While most of us are focused on keeping our sanity while staying at home, I did put together some first quarter market statistics for those who might be interested (I have a lot of extra time on my hands, so why not?). The reality is that most of the first quarter was “business as usual,” despite awareness of a growing threat of the coronavirus. At the time, no one could foresee the dramatic impact the virus would have on all aspects of our economy. The impact on real estate is most significantly reflected in the “on market” numbers as of March 31, 2020. As you can see below, we saw fairly dramatic drops in inventory levels, compared to March 31 of 2019. While this time of year usually sees a ratcheting up of listings for the spring market, we saw the opposite as sellers held off putting their homes on the market (myself included…more on that next week).

As of today, April 16, 2020, inventory levels for Middlesex County are down 29% with average days on market up 9% (from 79 days to 86 days), as compared to a year ago. For Norfolk County, inventory levels are down 30% and average days on market are up 4% (from 93 to 97 days). The relatively modest bump in average DOM reflects the fact that while there are fewer homes listed for sale, many are still selling quickly (in addition to the fact that it will take longer for that average number to tick upwards). A quick review of some of the towns listed below still show homes going under agreement/contingent within days of hitting the market (and this is after the stay-at-home order was issued). I will go into this in greater detail next week, where I will discuss the pros and cons for both buyers and sellers in our current market.

As always, if you have any questions about the stats, if you would like to see stats for a different town, or if you want to discuss your own buy/sell status, please reach out to me via email (Lvandore@LandmarkNE.com) or phone/text (508-308-4436).