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[ Originally published on: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 ]
Sales of single-family homes in Franklin County increased in July by 38 percent over last year, the first time in 2009 that sales increased from the corresponding month in 2008.
''It's a dramatic increase in sales,'' Mark Abramson, president of the Realtor Association of the Pioneer Valley, said Tuesday. He noted that the jump to 58 single-family homes sold in July, compared to 42 in '08, may have been the first year-over-year increase, but that this marks the sixth consecutive month of sales increases from the previous month, and that median prices increased 8 percent since June 2008, from $176,000 to $190,250.
The statewide housing market is also showing signs of recovery, with sales of single-family homes up 11.8 percent from July 2008. The Warren Group, a Boston-based publisher of real estate data, credited the increase to low interest rates, reduced prices, first-time homebuyer tax credits and improved consumer confidence. The Warren report showed a decline in housing sales in Berkshire and Hampden counties, while growth in Franklin County outpaced neighboring Hampshire County.
The Warren Group, which uses different calculation methods than the Realtors associations, calculated a 14.29 percent increase for Franklin County, with 64 single-family home sales. That hike over July 2008 sales, which corresponds to the 11.8 percent increase statewide, includes all sales from local deeds registries, including sale of bank-owned properties, estate sales and intra-family transfers, Abramson said. The Massachusetts Association of Realtors, which reported a 12.7 percent hike in sale of single-family homes, uses Multiple Listing Service sales only.
The Warren Group says the number of homes under agreement is also up, suggesting continued increases in sales.
Abramson said that in the Pioneer Valley, the inventory of homes on the market was about 2,500 at the end of July, contrasted with about 3,000 a year earlier, and that's a tight supply, caused in part by people believing it's not yet a good time to put their homes up for sale.
