HYANNIS – It was a mixed bag for Cape Cod real estate in May.
The volume of real estate sales was down 45.9% this May compared to May 2019. There was a 3.6% increase from the past year in the median individual property sale value, as well as a 29.2% increase in the mortgage activity volume since then as well.
Register of Deeds Jack Meade said that, unfortunately, the decline in volume was “not surprising.”
“I think access to viewing homes, etc., from March 15 to present has been limited to some degree,” Meade said.
With stats from local realtors coming in and statewide reopening plans continuing, Meade is confident that those numbers will turn for the better during the summer.
Mortgage levels are up, Meade explained, due in part to the fact that refinance rates are low.
“That with the increase in the value of properties allowed people to refinance or take equity lines out, things like that,” he continued.
Meade reported that 427 deeds with stated values north of $50,000 were recorded this past month within Barnstable County, as the median property sale price in the area stood at $399,000.
1,549 mortgages worth over $50,000 were also recorded, with the median mortgage amount for the month reported at $294,000.
Both median figures rose from May 2019. 362 more deeds were recorded last May compared to this May, while 350 additional mortgages were recorded this May as opposed to last May.
To date, both the volume of sales and the total value of sales are down on the year within Barnstable County, by 15.5% and 13.8% respectively.
In that same time frame, individual sales values have risen by 5.4%, and the mortgage volume is up 44%. Meade said that the yearly numbers are generally low in hindsight, but much of that has to do with COVID-19’s impact.
Demand is still present and Meade expects numbers to be stronger by year’s end.
About Brendan Fitzpatrick
