Monthly housing data shows signs of decline

Norfolk County Register of Deeds William P. O’Donnell reported a significant decrease in overall real estate activity — and sale prices — across the county in the month of November compared to the same time a year ago.

Register of Deeds Bill O’Donnell

Last month, there were 9,015 documents recorded at the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds, a 37 percent decrease from November 2021.

The number of deeds recorded, which reflect real estate sales and transfers, also fell considerably during that period (27 percent decline), while the total dollar volume of residential and commercial sales fell by a whopping 42 percent from a year ago and were down 18 percent in the last month.

Meanwhile, the average sale price for November 2022 — including both residential and commercial transactions — fell 17 percent year over year and 9 percent from the previous month to $973,133.

“The real estate market is showing the strains of continuingly rising interest rates and inflation, which is putting a damper on the amount of money consumers can save,” said O’Donnell. “Total document volume is down significantly compared to November 2021, but shows a lesser decrease when compared to last month’s statistics in October 2022. One of the components of document volume, the number of deeds recorded, indicates a decrease in property sales from last year.”

O’Donnell said consumers seem to be less willing to borrow with interest rates approaching and even exceeding 7 percent, while the drop in average sales prices indicates that sellers are adjusting prices to compensate.

Notably, O’Donnell said the 1,357 mortgages recorded last month was less than half the total from a year earlier and was down 8 percent from the prior month. A greater cause for concern, he said, is the rising number of pending foreclosures, with notices to foreclose more than doubling from 13 in November 2021 to 30 in November 2022.

“While the number of notices to foreclose have come down slightly from October, they are still significantly higher than in November 2021,” said O’Donnell. “This indicates that more of our neighbors are facing financial challenges. We will continue to track these numbers.”

The registry encourages any resident who is facing challenges paying their mortgage to contact one of its local partner agency, including Quincy Community Action Programs at 617-479-8181 ext. 376 or NeighborWorks Housing Solutions at 508-587-0950. Another option for homeowners is to contact the Mass. Attorney General’s Consumer Advocacy and Response Division (CARD) at 617-727-8400.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Dec 16 2022. Filed under Business. Both comments and pings are currently closed.