Year-to-date in 2023, there were 706 sales recorded in the MLS countywide. This is a 25% decrease from last year’s 937 sales.  The dollar volume transacted from January to June countywide topped $353 million dollars, with $270 million in residential sales. This is down 18% overall when compared to the first two quarters of 2022. There are few surprises when we dig into these numbers. The market demand is still high due to continued downward pressure on inventory – there just are not enough homes on the market to satisfy demand. The report shows historically how inventory, sale and dollar volume has changed significantly in the past several years. Consider just ten years ago there were 1,486 homes on the market in June – there are 499 this year, almost 1,000 fewer properties for buyers to consider. For those that love the data behind the big numbers, 2nd Quarter Market Watch with Monthly Historical Data.

With 449 residential sales year-to-date, the middle registry still accounts for the far majority of homes sold and total dollar volume transacted. South county leads the region in the highest median sale price, yet those sales also take the longest time from listing to closing. North county boasts the most affordable pricing and stable primary home market.

Residential sales are down 24% compared to the same time last year, multifamily sales are down 26%, condominium sales are down 19% yet the dollar volume of those transactions has increased over last year.  Land sales showed a decrease of 30% in the number of parcels transacted, but the dollar volume of those parcels at $12 million dollars is on par with the same time last year. Commercial sales fell slightly at 12% with $17 million transacted $21 million transacted compared to only 17 million last year.

The far majority of homes sold, 80%, we’re sold to buyers represented by other offices, whereas the remaining listings were sold in-house, where the listing firm represented both the buyer and sellers. These statistics show that 81% of the dollar volume of residential sales is generated through cooperative sales where both the buyer and seller are represented by different firms. You can also see that cooperative sales have a higher median sale price that is closer to the asking price, and they sell faster from first listing to deed transfer as well (DOM / Days on Market).The multifamily market is robust in both north and middle county, with $21.8 million of the $22.5 million in sales transacting there.

For a look ahead, we can see there is a 14% decrease in inventory compared to last year, which was already at historically low levels.  Going into the third quarter, there is a 19% reduction in the homes currently under agreement, including a slowing third quarter to start. The inventory in multifamily is also down by 14% yet the number of units under contract is higher than last year, with 121 units under contract, an increase of 8%. Condominium activity is on par with last year, but the number of pending sales has dropped by 10%. Land sales continue to struggle and inventory has retracted by 24%. 2nd Quarter Market Watch with Monthly Historical Data.