July Home Sales Decrease, Prices Increase

for Winchester in the month of July showed a sharp decline compared to last year’s numbers. The number of homes sold so far this year are falling further behind the amount of homes sold last year at this time

According to data from the Warren Group, Winchester’s home sales dropped by nearly half in July. Through the end of the month, a total of 21 homes sold, compared to 39 last year, a decline of 46 percent.

While the number of homes sold has declined when compared to July of 2010, year-to-date home prices have seen an increase.

The year-to-date median price of homes is eight percent higher than where it was at this point last year ($782,600 to $722,500).

However, the 21 homes that sold in Winchester this July fetched a median price of $800,000, nearly 10 percent higher than the median price of homes sold in Winchester last July ($732,000).

The data for July condo sales in Winchester has seen a slight increase. Ten Winchester condos sold in July 2011, up from two in June 2010. A total of 41 Winchester condos had sold through the end of June this year, compared to 38 that sold through the end of July 2010.

Similarly to the homes, prices of those condos home have increased. The median price of homes sold in July increased from $371,250 to $423,000 year over year, though the year-to-date has seen a small increase.

The Warren Group reported that for the first time since January, sales of Massachusetts single-family homes increased in July, posting a seven percent increase from July 2010. According to the Warren Group, this reverses a trend of five consecutive months of year-over-year decreases. So far this year, 20,893 homes have sold in Massachusetts, down 16 percent from 24,912 during the same period in 2010.

"While it's encouraging to see sales rise in July, we're comparing statistics to a very rough month of July last year," said Banker & Tradesman Managing Editor Cory S. Hopkins. "The expiration of the homebuyer tax credits hurt sales volume a year ago, which is skewing the actual picture of the market now."