Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1238019
T HE MASSACHUSETTS ASSOCIATION of Rea ltors® (MAR) reported today that the number of single-family homes and condominiums put under agreement in February was up 25% and almost 19%, respectively, from this time last year. This marks 12 straight months of year-over-year increases for both property types. Median price for single-family homes put under agreement saw almost a 5% increase to $396,900 while condominiums saw a 13% increase to $395,000 compared to February of 2019. FEBRUARY 2020 PENDING SALES: SINGLE-FAMILY FEBRUARY 2020 FEBRUARY 2019 %CHANGE Pending Sales 4,383 3,501 +25�2% Median Price $396,900 $379,000 +4�7% > Pending sales have been up for the past 12 months. CONDOMINIUM FEBRUARY 2020 FEBRUARY 2019 % CHANGE Pending Sales 1,806 1,523 +18�6% Median Price $395,000 $349,000 +13�2% > Pending sales have been up for the past 12 months. " B uyer s m a de t hei r pr e s enc e k now n i n Febr u a r y b y t a k i n g advantage of mild weather and very low interest rates to push the number of accepted offers up over 25%," says 2020 MAR President Kurt Thompson, broker at Keller Williams Realty North Central in Leominster. "The competition for the limited number of homes for sales remained very high, and low interest rates gave buyers more buying power in our high-price market." FEBRUARY 2020 REALTOR® MARKET AND PRICE CONFIDENCE INDEXES: CONFIDENCE INDEX FEBRUARY 2020 FEBRUARY 2019 % CHANGE Market 72�89 66�48 +9�64% Price 72�34 67�68 +6�88% > Measured on a 100-point scale, a score of 50 is the midpoint between a "strong" (100 points) and a "weak" (0 points) market condition. " R ea ltor ® con f idence conti nued on it s cli mb to ver y positive territory in February with lower interest rates having a positive effect," says Thompson. MONTHLY "HOT TOPIC" QUESTION: The February "Hot Topic" question asked Realtors® what they thought was the most popular method of communication when speaking with their clients over the past year. The most popu la r form of communication bet ween Rea ltors® and their clients over the last year was text messaging (76%), with emailing coming in second place (42.6%). Nineteen% of Rea ltors® responded that speaking on the phone was the most popular form of communication and 7% of Realtors® reported that in-person meetings were the most popular. Only 2% reported that communicating over Facebook messenger was the most popular and 0% claimed that the most popular form of communication was Twitter direct messaging or LinkedIn messaging. n Homes Put Under Agreement in February are Up for Single - Family Homes and Condominiums in Massachusetts Massachusetts Realtor News 74 | BOSTON.BUILDERARCHITECT.COM Builder+Architect GREATER BOSTON, CAPE COD AND THE ISLANDS