March 2018 Market Report: Luxury Homes Slower; Entry Level Interest High

According to preliminary data released last week by the Cape Cod & Islands Association of REALTORS® (CCIAOR), 313 homes sold in March, 255 single-family homes and 58 condominiums. Median sales price was $415,000 for single-family homes and $273,400 for condominiums. Last March, 409 homes (334 single-family homes and 75 condos) sold at a median price of $380,000 for single-family homes and $245,000 for condominiums.

Year-to-date, 706 single-family homes have sold for a median price of $405,000 and 176

condominiums have sold for a median price of $276,250 – compared to last year through March, 810 single-family homes had sold for a median price of $374,750 and 180 condominiums had sold for a median price of $249,500.

“With homes in the luxury market seeing slower activity and historic low inventory at lower price points, it, of course, makes sense that the number of sales are down. The rise in median sales prices reflects the inventory available for sale and continuing strong demand for property on Cape Cod at certain price points.” said Martha Knapp, president of the Cape Cod & Islands Association of REALTORS®."

Sales pending at the end of March were 303 for single-family homes and 70 for condominiums – a 33.8 percent decrease for single-family and a 36.9 percent decrease for condominiums, which will show up in closed home sales in the coming months. Last March, there were 458 pending single-family homes and 111 pending condominiums.

“The Cape Cod real estate market is unique from town-to-town and village to village. Inventory shortages are most notable in the towns of Harwich, Yarmouth, Dennis, Bourne and Falmouth. All have under four months of inventory on the market – the industry benchmark for a healthy real estate market is six months of inventory. However, that does not mean that the towns that have more inventory, such as the Outer Cape or Chatham have more affordability because the available housing is very expensive. Inventory is still extremely low Cape-wide.” Knapp continued.

Data released reflects all residential and condominiums in the Cape Cod & Islands Multiple Listing Service for Barnstable County.

More detailed town-by-town statistics can be found at CapeCodRealEstateStats.com.