Mass. home, condo prices surge amid coronavirus pandemic

BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts residential real estate market is flourishing as single-family and condo sale prices soar amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by The Warren Group.

The median price from a single-family home in 2020 increased 11.4% to $445,500 and the median price of a condo increased 9.2% to $415,000 — the largest single-year increase in more than a decade, the Boston Herald reported.

“The acceleration and momentum for price increases seem to be the stand-out feature of last year to me,” Tim Warren, CEO of The Warren Group said.

The data provided by The Warren Group indicated that Nantucket was the most expensive place to purchase a home or condo with the median sale price for a single-family increasing from 2019 by 34.2% to just over $2 million. This was the largest increase in any county for single-family residences.

The median price of a condo in Nantucket increased in 2020 by 4.4% to $824,000.

Warren said it is unlikely that purchase prices will drop as it is unlikely interest rates will increase while consumer confidence endures.

In December, there were 6,410 single-family home sales in Massachusetts, a 28.6% increase over last year and the highest number of transactions recorded in December. There were 61,469 single-family home sales in 2020, a 3.9% increase.

Flourishing sale prices comes in stark contrast to rental markets that have plummeted since the beginning of the pandemic.

A report by The Herald in September shows that rental prices had decreased an average of 7%. Experts said at the time that the drop in rental prices was due to additional inventory and a lack of renters as jobs and colleges continue to operate remotely.