2013 kicked off bullish in the Bay State, Massachusetts, as pending sales for single-family homes and condominiums soared for the 21st straight month in January, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR).
“The spring home buying season came early for many buyers in January as the numbers showed they made offers and took advantage of market conditions instead of waiting,” said Kimberly Allard-Moccia, MAR’s president, in a statement. “Late 2012 pending sales reports indicated that the closings for the first months of 2013 would most likely be up, but today’s report gives us reason to believe the same will be true about the early spring.”
The number of single-family homes put under agreement in January reached 3,076, up from 2,599 homes in 2012, an impressive 18.4 percent increase. Condos put under agreement last month hiked 22.3 percent to 1,216 units, up from 994 dwellings in 2012.
MAR said tracking of signed purchase and sales agreements, also called “pending sales,” give a hint about where the real estate market is headed.
A pending sale or a sale “under agreement” is when the buyer and seller agree on the terms of the sale and have a signed purchase and sale agreement, but have yet to close at the Registry of Deeds.
