LYNN — After a staggering double-digit increase in the number of single-family home sales in 2016, sales in the city have fallen by nearly 4 percent this year, according to new data from The Warren Group.
“I’m surprised to hear sales are down because I’m ahead in year-to-date sales compared to a year ago,” said Colleen Toner, the broker-owner of Toner Real Estate LLC. “I am seeing robust sales and prices are still making gains. When all the under agreement contracts close in August, you’ll see sales are up.”
From January through June, 296 single-family homes sold in Lynn, down from 307 for the same period a year ago. Condominium sales are also off. The number of condos slipped to 89 for the first half of the year, down from 106 a year ago, representing a 16 percent drop.
Despite seeing fewer sales, Lynn home prices continued to rise. The median price for a single-family home swelled to $312,250 through June, a 13.5 percent rise over the $275,000 median from a year ago. Condo prices increased by 3 percent to $190,000, up from $184,450 last year.
Peabody saw the biggest increase in home sales on the North Shore, with 203 single-family homes sales from January through June, up from 167 for the same period last year.
“The Peabody market is really hot because communities closer to Boston like Malden, Everett and Somerville are so much more expensive,” said Maria Silveira, an agent at Century 21 North Shore.
While sales in Peabody are up dramatically, prices have been flat. Through June the median price for a single-family home was $387,000; that’s a 1 percent increase from a year ago when the median was $382,500.
Lynnfield saw the biggest percentage increase in sales as number of single-family homes sold from January through June hit 73, up from 48, or a whopping 52 percent hike. As sales rose, so did prices. The median price for a single-family increased by 9 percent to $640,000, up from $587,000 one year ago.
Helen Bolino, an agent at Northrup Associates, said the spike in sales in Lynnfield is due to the low inventory.
“It’s a seller’s market,” she said. “When homes are listed they are scooped up because buyers have no idea if or when the next home will come on the market.”
On Tuesday, there were less than four dozen single-family homes listed in Lynnfield on the MLS Property Information Network, a Shrewsbury-based listing service. In previous times, there were three or four times as many listings, agents said.
“First-time and trade-up buyers are coming to Lynnfield because of the schools, while older buyers are selling their giant Colonials in favor of a two-bedroom ranch,” Bolino said.
Single-family home sales also did well in Revere, where they rose by 3 percent and the median price increased to $359,450 from January through June, up from $350,000 for the same period a year ago.
In Saugus, sales rose by 6 percent and the median price increased by nearly 6 percent to $390,000. In Marblehead, sales fell by 11 percent, while the median price reached $615,000, up 3 percent from last year.
In Swampscott, sales fell by 17 percent as median prices rose by 8 percent to $507,000. Nahant saw sales rise by 7 percent and the median price swell to $550,000, a nearly 15 percent hike.
In Malden, home sales dipped nearly 3 percent as median prices rose by 16 percent to $430,000.
Statewide, year-to-date single-family home sales in Massachusetts were flat. For the first half of the year, 27,184 homes have been sold compared to 27,000 for the same period a year ago while the median price jumped 6.3 percent to $360,000, up from $338,650 over that period.
Thomas Grillo can be reached at [email protected].
