2021 Market Annual Report: Lack of Homes for Sale Continue to Fuel Rising Home Prices

The middle of 2020 through the middle of 2021 was a historic run for Cape Cod real estate but as the year came to a close, the number of sales began declining as housing sales inventory has been nearly completely depleted with a lack of new housing replacing those coming off the market.

According to preliminary data released by the Cape Cod & Islands Association of REALTORS® (CCIAOR), 5,296 homes were sold in 2021. This is down 13.4 percent from the bellwether year of 2020 was when 6,117 homes were sold.

The median sales price was $570,000 for 2021 and $479,000 for 2020, which was an increase of 19 percent.

In 2021, 5,274 homes went pending – a 16.7 percent decrease from 2020 with 6,328 pending sales.

“The hot housing market we saw through the pandemic has been held back by the lack of inventory. However, that lack of inventory is not tempering prices, but only the amount of sales,” Ryan Castle, chief executive officer of the Cape Cod & Islands Association of REALTORS®.

“There is an imbalance in the market. We have more demand than we have available housing, and are seeing historically low amounts of new listings come on the market. This is a bad precursor for Cape Cod’s economy as housing sales drive many other facets of the economy. The first half of 2022 will see double digit declines in sales because there simply are not enough houses on the market to sell to satisfy the needs of the region. We absolutely need more housing for sale on Cape Cod,” said Castle.

At the end of 2021, there were 388 homes for sale in the Cape Cod & Islands Multiple Listing Service. In 2020, there were 859 homes for sale, a 54.8 percent decrease.

For a detailed, town-level look at the housing market, please download the Annual Report on the Cape Cod Housing Market.

Data released reflects all single-family homes and condominiums in the Cape Cod & Islands Multiple Listing Service for Barnstable County.