Market Bottom?

Home-for-sale inventory is a closely watched real estate market barometer.  A sustained decrease in the supply of homes for sale often signals future real estate market strength.

Starting in February 2009, the supply of homes for sale in Massachusetts has been lower each month than the same month in 2008.  (Note that housing inventory in MA is highly seasonal, typically peaking each year during the spring home selling season.)

If Massachusetts housing inventory continues its downward trend for the rest of 2009, the bottom of the current market cycle might arguably be at hand.   Caution is called for in this trend of thought, as the national economic situation is so problematic.

Franklin, MA Home-for-Sale Inventory

The absorption of home-for-sale inventory was also evident in the local Franklin, MA  real estate market during July 2009.  The supply of homes for sale in Franklin, Massachusetts dropped 11.5 % in July (to 6.2 months of supply versus 7 months last year).

Condominium Inventory

Inventory figures for condominiums in Massachusetts for July 2009 remained dominated by Franklin’s glut of new construction units.

The inventory of available condos in Franklin is positively bloated.  Timing seems to be the problem: quite a number of new condo communities all came on line in Franklin at roughly the same point in the market cycle. 

These new communities are attractive and offer many fine features.  Units are selling, it’s just that standing inventory remains very high because there are so many new units for sale.

You can learn more about home sale data by clicking the highlighted link.

Click here to see Franklin, MA homes for sale as well as available property throughout the Route 495 region.

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June 2009 saw 11.2 months’ supply of single family homes for sale throughout Massachusetts.  This represents a 9% decline in housing inventory compared to the 12.3 months’ worth of homes for sale last June.

MA Housing Inventory June 2009

Lower property inventory is widely viewed as a positive trend in a real estate market.

Franklin MA Home Inventory Rises

June’s good news was tempered by absorption results in the smaller markets tracked in this blog; the supply of single homes for sale rose in both the Town of Franklin, MA, itself and the regional market surrounding Franklin.

At 9 months’ supply, the June 2009 inventory of single family homes for sale in Franklin, MA is 8.4% higher compared to year-ago levels.  But it is notable that the supply of property in Franklin remains significantly below that of both the regional market surrounding Franklin (11.7 months’ supply) and the broader MA market (11.2 months’ worth of homes).

The lower home for sale inventory carried in Franklin, MA can be viewed as testament to the enduring desirability of the Franklin, MA community in the eyes of the home buying public.

Condominium Absorption Rates

By far and away the supply of condominiums for sale in Franklin, Massachusetts continues to dwarf inventory levels in the rest of Massachusetts.

Condo Inventories June 2009

The inventory of condominiums for sale in Franklin has been swollen by the overwhelming number of new construction units that have come into service over the last 12 months.

Massachusetts Sheds Condo Inventory

On the other hand, condominium inventory levels fell sharply across the broader Massachusetts market in June 2009.  At 9.6 months of supply, the overall MA market shed nearly 27% of available condo inventory in June 2009 compared to year-ago levels.

Condo inventory in the regional Franklin market remained nearly unchanged in June 2009, posting a 5.8% rise to 12.7 months’ supply (compared to 12 months back in June 2008).

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In contrast, the inventory of Franklin, MA homes for sale remained essentially unchanged this month from April 2008’s supply.   This compares to an 8.1% inventory decline in the regional market surrounding Franklin, MA for the same period.

The chart above shows the supply of single family homes in the three MA markets tracked by this report: the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the regional market around Franklin, MA and the Town of Franklin, Mass itself.

As illustrated by the chart, Franklin currently has 9.4 month supply of single family homes for sale, while the regional Franklin market carries 11.3 months’ worth and the entire Commonwealth has 10.3 months of supply. 

Inventory levels are one indicator of the health and direction of nearly any real estate market.   So it is encouraging that inventories in the select Massachusetts markets followed by this report are generally trending lower!

On the condominium side of the residential housing market, supply in Franklin, MA continued to balloon, rising 74.4% in April 2009 compared to April 2008.  Tellingly, inventory levels in the Franklin regional market and the overall MA condo market declined slightly in the same time period.

At a full two years of inventory of condo supply on hand, Franklin’s condo market is decidedly burdened with excess supply.  The unhealthy lack of balance between condo supply and demand in Franklin can justly be attributed to the many new townhome construction projects in town.

A startling 61.7% (76 units) of the 123 condominiums and townhome units currently for sale in Franklin, MA are new construction offerings built on spec.

Please click here to see the full range of single family and condominium property for sale in Franklin, MA and surrounding towns.

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