The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in October, slipped 0.7 percent to 88.9 from an upwardly revised reading of 89.5 in September, and is 1.0 percent below October 2007 when it was 89.8.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said a review of the past year is instructive. “Despite the turmoil in the economy, the overall level of pending home sales has been remarkably stable over the past year, holding in a generally narrow range,” he said. “We did see a spike in August when mortgage conditions temporarily improved, which underscores two things – there is a pent-up demand, and access to safe, affordable mortgages will bring more buyers into the market.”
Let’s take a look at the sales statistics for November 2008 to see how the Western MA real estate market looks:
This November, Worcester County saw a 16% decrease in sales, when compared against November 2007. The average sales price declined 20% to $244,043, and homes were on the market an average of 12 days less than the same time last year.
|
Worcester County
|
Active Listings
|
Pending Sales
|
Sold Listings
|
Average DOM
|
Average Sale Price
|
|
Nov 2008
|
520
|
271
|
357
|
147
|
$244,043
|
|
Nov 2007
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
424
|
159
|
$307,099
|
In Hampden County, the average sales price dropped 11% to $182,195 in November 2008 from November 2007. Home sales were down 36% in November 2008, while homes were on the market an average of 2 days longer than in November 2007.
|
Hampden
County
|
Active Listings
|
Pending Sales
|
Sold Listings
|
Average DOM
|
Average Sale Price
|
|
Nov 2008
|
264
|
127
|
154
|
118
|
$182,195
|
|
Nov 2007
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
239
|
116
|
$206,074
|
In Hampshire County, the average sales price dropped 5% to $281,124 in November 2008 from November 2007. Home sales decreased by 43% this November. Market times increased by 23 days from November 2007.
|
Hampshire County
|
Active Listings
|
Pending Sales
|
Sold Listings
|
Average DOM
|
Average Sale Price
|
|
Nov 2008
|
63
|
33
|
43
|
133
|
$281,124
|
|
Nov 2007
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
75
|
110
|
$295,648
|
For the latest
Western MA real estate market conditions in your area, please call me at 413-283-6324 or visit
ShannonDonohueHomes.com.