July 2023: Why Home Sales Have Increased Recently

Located next to Paul Reveres House in the North End of Boston, Limoncello is famous for its meatballs! From the minute that I walked into this restaurant, I immediately felt like I was part of the owner, Maurizio Badolato’s, family. The menu is very Amalfi Coast vibes – lots of seafood! For an appetizer, you already know that I had to go with the famous meatballs, which are easily the best meatballs in New England. For the main course, I went with a delicious Veal entrée which also had fresh veggies on the side. If you go to Limencello you must try their Limoncello of course! This isn’t my first choice when I’m ordering a drink, but it is when I go to this restaurant. No dessert for me this time, but just wait until next week’s newsletter for that! On the FoodiePhil scale, the meatballs get a solid 9.6 and I’m not even exaggerating on this, they are that good. Overall, between the food and family environment, Limoncello gets a 9.2 overall score. There aren’t many Italian spots in Boston that can compare to Limoncello.

Where should I go next?! Send me your recommendations!

This week’s newsletter brings great news to the housing market. I want to highlight three key points as to why existing home sales have been expanding since June.

1. Supply Has Improved
2. Every Region is Having an Increase Median Home Price
3. Properties Are NOT Spending Much Time on the Market

1. Supply Has Improved

For a market that has had a rather low inventory over the last year, since demand has been sky high, we have seen a modest improvement in recent months due to more housing starts and existing homeowners listing their homes, which has resulted in an uptick in sales. Home sales are currently running at a pace above the rate seen before the pandemic. Total housing inventory at the end of June amounted to 1.25 million units, which is up 3.3% from May’s inventory and down 18.8% from one year ago. Even unsold properties are up compared to May. Even though we are still in a low-inventory market, it is slowly getting better month by month.

2. Every Region is Having an Increase Median Home Price

The median existing home price for all housing types in June was $363,300, which is up 23.4% from June 2020, as every region has recorded price jumps. This will now be 112 straight months of year-over-year gains! What this means is the average home price is going up and people are now realizing that this is their time to sell, to get the most out of their initial investment. Home prices are in no danger of a decline due to the still-tight inventory conditions, but prices are expected to appreciate at a slower pace by the end of the year. Typically, the cost for a home would rise in line with income growth, which is likely to happen in 2022 when there are more listings and new construction taking place. The Northeast region's existing-home sales increased 2.8% in June, recording an annual rate of 740,000, which is a 45.1% increase from last year alone! The average median price was $412,800 which is also up about 24% from June 2020. This is not only a great time to purchase a home, but it’s also a great time to get top dollar out of your current home and to get into the home you’ve always dreamed of.

3. Properties Are NOT Spending Much Time on the Market

In June, properties were on the market for an average of only 17 days, unchanged from May, however, it is down from 24 days in June 2020. Out of all the homes sold in June 2021, 89% were on the market for less than one month! First-time homebuyers are coming back strong with 31% of sales being accounted for, which is down from June 2020 but slowly creeping its way back up. Individual investors and second home buyers seem to be slowing a bit as they purchased 14% of homes in June, but down 3% compared to May. Luckily, foreclosures and short sales only represented 1% of sales in June, which is down 3% from June 2020 and this is due to huge wealth gains from both housing equity and the stock market.

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