2019 Cape Cod Real Estate Market Annual Report

According to preliminary data released by the Cape Cod & Islands Association of REALTORS® (CCIAOR), median sale price rose by 2.5% Cape-wide, for a year-end median sale price of $410,000, while inventory dropped 18.4% from 2018 and closed sales were nearly flat (-0.5%) from 2018.

Median Sale Price
Median sale price rose year-over-year in every town on Cape Cod except for Brewster and Eastham, which saw slight declines of 3.5% and 2.1%, respectively. Truro, Provincetown and Dennis posted the largest increases in sale price, at 30.7%, 8% and 7.5%, respectively.

Closed Sales
Nine towns saw the number of closed sales increase from 2018, with Wareham, Harwich and Dennis posting the largest gains. The largest contraction in the number of closed sales was Orleans, with a 16.9% decline, followed by Chatham with a 7.5% decline.

Inventory
Every town covered by the CCIAOR statistical reports saw a significant decline in the number of homes for sale except Orleans, which posted a 25.7% gain in 2019. Dennis saw the largest decline in inventory at 36.4%, followed by Harwich at 31.9% and Falmouth at 21.1%. With an average of 4 months of inventory on the market, the Cape Cod market is tilted in favor of sellers.

Analysis
2019 was a consistent year for Cape Cod real estate, with a modest increase in median sales price and most other metrics staying consistent. Interestingly, 2019 saw a similar sales volume to 2018, but with 17% lower inventory. Low interest rates continue to buoy the market, increasing buying power even in an environment with limited inventory and high median sale price.

Demand for Cape Cod real estate has remained consistently high with inventory shrinking, resulting in an efficient sales environment for properly priced homes. The result is a robust market for sellers who are realistic about sales price and home condition. Looking forward, the biggest condition that could impact the market and further exacerbate the region's affordability crisis is that there may simply not be enough housing stock on the market to meet the demand.

Cape buyers are beginning to demonstrate increased price sensitivity, eschewing traditionally higher priced towns, or towns that have posted large recent sale price increases, for neighboring towns where their buying power is higher.

"Our hope is that in 2020, that Cape towns get serious about solving our housing supply and affordability problem. This is why we have launched our Housing Blueprint for improving availability and affordability in our region. We look forward to working together with legislators and local elected boards and officials on this issue."

notes Ryan Castle, CEO of CCIAOR. A copy of the housing blueprint can be downloaded on this page.

For more information and to read the complete market report, please visit CapeCodRealEstateStats.com