Single-family home sales in Franklin County were down by 10.6 percent in the first six months of 2018, compared to the same period in 2017, the Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley reported.
The median sales price of the 570 homes sold during that period held steady at $200,000, with a nearly 2½ percent increase in neighboring Hampshire County’s median price, to $276,500 for that period.
The inventory of homes for sale was down 20.5 percent for the six-month period, compared to the first six months for 2017, with 237 homes listed in June. There was a corresponding 8.4 percent drop in new listings from that period, with a 4.6-month supply of inventory on the market — pointing to what Kelly Bowman, president elect of the Realtor Association, said is a key problem.
“The biggest problem we’re facing right now is, there’s no inventory,” said Bowman, the broker-owner of Trademark Real Estate in South Deerfield. “If you don’t have the houses to sell, you can’t have sales.”
She said, “If you want to sell your house, you have to find something to go to. It’s kind of that big Catch-22, where if you can’t find a house to move to, you can’t sell your house. So first-time buyers are not getting into the market, so you’re not finding that move up and it’s just that circle that makes everything difficult.”
Although mortgage prices have inched up from what they were a year ago — with an average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage with 0.5 points going from 3.9 percent in the first half of 2017 to 4.57 percent a year later, Bowman said, “In the big picture, they’re still very low. I don’t think that’s stopping people from buying houses.”
A limited supply of listings has also helped cause the sales of existing homes to decline nationally for the third straight month, the National Association of Realtors reported to The Associated Press this week.
Sam Khater, chief economist at mortgage buyer Freddie Mac, said the lack of meaningful pay raises could weigh on the housing market.
“This ongoing issue will likely lead to more affordability headwinds for those trying to buy a home in the months ahead,” Khater said.
The Pioneer Valley figures also showed a 7.9 percent decline in pending single-family home sales from a year ago and a drop in sales of condominiums, with a decline in the average selling price. The number of those sales was too small to be statistically valid.