Massachusetts condo and single-family prices hit all-time highs

Echoing milestones in Boston, housing prices in Massachusetts ascended to fresh records in June, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

The median sales price for a condo reached $426,165, up 8.4 percent from June 2018. The median price for a single-family home was $440,000, up 2.3 percent from 12 months before. Both represented records.

What’s driving the surge? “We’re hitting these record-high prices because we continue to have a historically low number of homes for sale,” Anne Meczywor, a broker/associate at Roberts & Associates Realty in Lenox and president of the Waltham-based realtors association, said in a statement.

In other words, it’s low supply and high demand. For single-families, the dearth is particularly acute. The number of homes for sale dropped more than 11 percent year over year in June—the 88th time in the last 89 months that inventory has declined. In fact, according to the association, the inventory was the lowest June total since the association began tracking it in 2004.

For condos, the supply side was slightly rosier, but still rather gray. The number of homes for sale was up annually in June by 4.5 percent. Take the long view, and it’s another story: That was only the sixth increase in the past 39 months.