Melrose Home Sales Plummet While State Soars

While Massachusetts single-family home sales climbed to their highest level in two years in June, Melrose home sales fell year-over-year last month according to the latest figures from The Warren Group.

In June, 23 single-family homes sold in Melrose compared to 30 in the same month last year, a 23 percent drop and a reversal in course from May when the city saw a . (Click through the photos to the right for some of the homes sold in Melrose last month, taken from our Sold column that runs every Thursday at noon.)

Meanwhile, statewide sales rose almost 26 percent in June, with 5,498 single-family homes sold up from 4,368 a year earlier. According to The Warren Group, that marks the best month for sales since June 2010, when there were 5,662 sales.

Second quarter home sales across Massachusetts totaled 13,560, a 28 percent increase from 10,595 in the second quarter of 2011, The Warren Group said in a press release.

"It's common to see strong sales volume once the spring selling market begins, but these numbers nearly parallel sales from two years ago when a government tax credit was being given to buyers," The Warren Group CEO Timothy M. Warren Jr. said in the release. "The local consumer confidence combined with low mortgage rates are evidently helping the market a great deal."

Year-to-date single-family home sales in Melrose are down about 10 percent, with 97 sold in the first half of 2012 compared to 108 sold from January through June of last year.

Statewide sales are up 24 percent year-to-date, with 21,567 single-family homes sold compared to 17,397 during the same period a year ago.

Median Prices Dip Slightly in Melrose and Statewide

Both Melrose and Massachusetts as a whole saw the median sale price for a single-family home dip slightly last month.

In Melrose, the median sale price of a single-family home was $380,000, about a 3.3 percent drop from the $393,000 price in June 2011.

Statewide, the median sale price dropped almost 1 percent to $322,000 in June, down from $325,000 in June 2011.

Year-to-date, the median sale price for a single family home in Melrose is $381,000, a 3.4 percent drop from the $394,500 price in the first half of last year.

Statewide the year-to-date median sale price is $282,000, down 1.9 percent from $287,500 during the same period last year. Quarterly prices dropped 0.1 percent to $299,900, down from $300,250 during the second quarter 2011.

"A month of nearly unchanged prices is a promising indicator that buyers are beginning to re-enter the market, and downward pressure on home prices is abating," Warren said in the press release.

Condo Sales Also Fall In Melrose, Rise Statewide

As with single-family homes, Melrose saw a drop in condominium sales last month while the Bay State saw an increase.

Seven condos sold in Melrose last month, compared to 12 sold in June of last year, a 41.7 percent drop.

Statewide condo sales increased almost 29 percent from a year earlier, with 2,216 sold in June up from 1,723 a year earlier.

So far this year, 27 condos have sold in Melrose compared to 34 in the first half of last year, a 20.6 percent drop, while statewide condo sales are up 23 percent to 8,568 from 6,950 a year earlier.

Melrose's median condo sale price also dropped while the state price rose. The median price in Melrose last month was $203,750, a 14.8 percent droped from the $239,250 price in June 2011.

Statewide, the median selling price was $313,001, up 6.3 percent from $294,500 a year earlier.

In the first half of 2012, the median sale price for Melrose condos is $205,000, a 14.6 percent drop from the $239,950 price from January through June last year.

The year-to-date median price of condos in Massachusetts is $276,500, up about 4 percent from $266,000 a year ago.

Information from a Warren Group press release was used in this report.