April 2021 Cape Cod Market Report

Cape Cod Real Estate Market Continues Torrid Sales Pace; Inventory Showing Signs of Recovering

There is little value in comparing April 2020 to April 2021 (so much has changed in the world, but also in Cape Cod real estate in that time), so this month, we are focusing on some other statistics that you may have been wondering about.

Here are some interesting notes about April’s real estate market about statistics we do not usually report on:

• 53% of April sales closed above list price - this compared to 43% in March - and normally, a statistic that is under 10%. This reflects what many of you see in the market and how hard it is to keep list price concurrent with demand in the market.
• 39% of April sales were cash transactions. Normally, in our market, 25% of transactions are cash. While we have seen this number tick up since the boom started, this is the highest we have seen the cash deals as even for all of 2020, cash only represented about 28% of the market.

Why this matters:
While many agents may feel every listing is going for above asking price or that all deals are cash the reality reflects that nearly 1 in 2 listings are going for BELOW asking price and that more than 60% of the transactions are being financed.

Perspective is more important than ever in this market!

Inventory is Showing Signs of Life, but New Listings Are Still Down

Looking at inventory from March 2021 to April 2021, last month showed the first climb in inventory on a month to month basis since the start of the pandemic and subsequent real estate boom began. Optimistically, this could be a harbinger of things to come.

However, we temper that optimism that new listings per month are still below pre-pandemic levels. When you look back on new listings for April 2021 against April 2019, we still did not see the amount of new listings we normally see for our typical highest listing month of the year.

Here's the rest of the April 2021 market report:

Cape Cod Real Estate Market Continues Torrid Sales Pace; Monthly Sales Up 74% vs April 2020

The Cape Cod real estate market showed no signs of slowing from its blistering pace in April, 2021, posting a 74.3% increase in pending sales for single family homes from April, 2020 despite near historically low levels of inventory.

Sales pending at the end of April were 380 for single-family homes and 100 for condominiums – a 74.3 percent increase for single-family and a 156.4 percent increase for condominiums, which will show up in closed home sales in the coming months. Last April, there were 218 pending single-family homes and 39 pending condominiums.

All participants of the recent Housing Assistance State of the Cape Virtual Summit on May 12th, representing the Housing Assistance Corporation, CCIAOR, Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, the Association to Preserve Cape Cod and the MassHire Cape and Islands Workforce Board, pointed to housing for year round and seasonal workers as the core issue holding back the region’s economic recovery.

According to preliminary data released last week by the Cape Cod & Islands Association of REALTORS® (CCIAOR), 394 homes sold in April, 307 single-family homes and 87 condominiums. Median sales price was $625,000 for single-family homes and $345,000 for condominiums. Last April, 329 homes (265 single-family homes and 64 condos) sold at a median price of $439,900 for single-family homes and $303,250 for condominiums.

There were some small signs of the inventory crisis easing, however. New listings in April for single-family homes were 461 and 119 for condominiums. This is a 68.2 percent increase, and a 58.7 percent increase respectively from last April, which had 274 new listings for single-family homes and 75 new listings for condominiums.

“To reflect year over year comparison is not applicable, but we’re seeing signs of inventory growth for the first time in over a year, but are still down 75%,” says Castle.

At the end of April, there were 394 single-family homes for sale and 151 condominiums for sale in the Cape Cod & Islands Multiple Listing Service. Last April, there were 1,539 single-family homes and 462 condos listed for sale, a 74.4 percent decrease, and a 67.3 percent decrease, respectively.

Cumulative days on market for April decreased 49.1 percent for single-family homes compared to last April, dropping from 112 days to 57 days. Condominiums had a 53.4 percent decrease in cumulative days on market compared to last April, dropping from 118 days to 55 days.

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