By By Pamela Berard
Bulletin correspondent

Massachusetts single-family homes sales for June dropped to the lowest level for that month since 1991, but those numbers don’t tell the whole story.

According to a report from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, single-family home sales slid 23.5 percent in June, the fifth straight month of double-digit percentage decreases (with 4,313 sold, down from 5,639 a year earlier). That number marks the worst June since 1991 (4,243), in what is typically a brisk month for sales. The report also noted that year-to-date home sales from January to June were down 20 percent from 2010.

However — comparing this year’s sales figures to last year’s may be an “apples to oranges” comparison, say some in the industry, because last year’s numbers were inflated due to the homebuyer tax credits, which ended in June 2010.

Also, while the number of sales is down — prices have gone up for the second straight month, according to the report, with the median sale price of single-family homes statewide at $325,850 in June 2011 (up from $325,000 in June 2010).

Locally — that increase was even greater. Lori Nery, president of the Greater New Bedford Association of Realtors and owner of Coastal Realty, said the median sale price in June in the cities/towns covered under her board’s office was $230,000 — up from $210,000 in that month last year.

“I was floored by that,” said Nery, who had expected a lower number when compared to last June, the last month of the homebuyer tax incentives.

“The number of sales had gone down, maybe about 10 percent below (June of 2010),” she said. “But what we are showing is that although there are fewer buyers on the market, the ones that were buying are actually starting to step up a bit and the prices are starting to climb.”

John R. Buckley Jr., Register of Deeds for Plymouth County, said property values have held steady. Using the most recently available numbers (from July 2011), he said the average sale price for the January-July period was $310,590, up from $301,075 during the same period last year.

In Plymouth County, reports (which include all sales and refinances, and do not distinguish between residential and commercial), indicated an 18 percent decrease in sales volume for January through June in 2011 (when compared to the same period in 2010). In that period, the average sales price increased by 2 percent and the average mortgage amount increased by 3 percent.

The Bristol County Registry of Deeds Southern District (which includes New Bedford, Westport, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, and Acushnet), saw the number of mortgages decrease in June (311) when compared to last June (459 recorded), and the number of deeds decreased (270 this June, versus 317 recorded last June). But the Bristol County office saw fewer foreclosure deeds — 30 recorded in June versus 50 in that month last year.

Buckley said there have been fewer foreclosures in 2011 in Plymouth County, as well — a 44 percent decrease in foreclosure deeds, and a 31 percent decrease in foreclosure notices, for the January through July period.

“I’ve seen reports that because of all the inventory, that the national lenders now are better than they were at doing modifications or allowing short sales,” Buckley said.

Buckley noted that the total sales volume reported by Plymouth County includes sales by foreclosure deed. In the first half of 2010, 828 sales, or 21 percent of total volume were by foreclosure deed. Through June of this year, 462 foreclosure deeds were recorded, accounting for 14 percent of total sales.

In early August, the Federal Reserve vowed to keep interest rates low for at least two years.

“The fact of the matter is the Federal Reserve (August 9) guaranteed the lowest possible rates through 2013, and there are so many people who just can’t take advantage of it,” Buckley said, noting the impact on mortgages based on tightening of standards by lenders, and the fact that many people are under water in their mortgages and can’t refinance. “It’s pretty sad.”

“But those low guaranteed rates are certainly going to solidify the mortgage market for a while,” he said.

Added Nery, “If we can keep more foreclosures off the market we can make the whole situation so much better. I think news of the interest rates was really what a lot of homebuyers were waiting for.”

Nery said she has noticed that banks seem more willing to lend recently. She also said homebuyers are much more educated now. “I think what this has all taught us is that the new buyers on the market have saved more than the old buyers,” she said. “Before there was 100 percent financing, they had nothing vested. They had nothing invested in the house so if they ended up not being able to pay it they just walked away like it was a rental.”

But when a buyer puts down 3 to 5 percent of the cost, “they have a significant investment, so they make a point to make their payment on time and balance their budget.”

“Buyers have been more serious and qualified and they don’t want to do what the people before them did, and lose their houses,” she said. “I see a really good buyer on the rise, a much more educated buyer.”

By Jenifer B. McKim

Globe Staff/ October 2, 2011

“If your dream is to have a spectacular waterfront house, now is the best time to buy,’’ Bethune said.

Davis Rowley, sales manager at Hammond Residential Real Estate in Cambridge, said that of six offers he recently received for a property, three were in cash. He said some sellers are more willing to reduce their prices if they don’t have to worry about a buyer’s financing situation or a low appraisal scuttling the sale. As lenders have grown more conservative in an effort to avoid the kinds of mistakes that led to the subprime mortgage crisis, the loan process can take months to complete.

“It’s a huge headache taken off the plate,’’ Rowley said of cash offers.

Tracy Campion, owner of the high-end Newbury Street real estate agency Campion & Co., said many of her clients buy homes with cash to speed the sales, and later apply for a loan. “They say, `We are all cash and we want to close,’ ’’ Campion said. “The sellers like that. They expect no mortgage contingencies on a high-end deal.’’

It’s not just pricey deals that are being completed without mortgage brokers and appraisers. In Roxbury, a Boston neighborhood plagued by foreclosures and a steep drop in home values during the last several years, more than half of the property sales so far this year have been made with cash, according to Warren Group data.

For developer Silvian Robinson, using cash to buy real estate is nothing new. Robinson said that’s how he’s been purchasing abandoned and foreclosed homes in Roxbury and Dorchester for two decades. After making repairs and renovations to the properties, he eventually sells them at a profit. Robinson said he performs an important service because many first-time homeowners cannot get financing themselves to purchase run-down homes and make them livable.

But even though he is able to buy homes at deep price cuts, selling them remains a challenge in the current market. “I’m getting a lot of good deals, but I’m holding them longer,’’ Robinson said.

Dorchester developer Michael Stella said lenders generally shy away from selling foreclosed homes to people who need a mortgage because there is more risk of complications. Homeowners needing financing are largely barred from foreclosure auctions because the deals need to be finalized within 30 days. That’s usually not enough time to secure a loan, Stella said.

Stella’s strategy is to buy and rehab a home and then rent it out. Typically, he doesn’t seek a loan until after a property is renovated. As prices have dropped in recent years, Stella said, he has been buying more homes.

“When the bottom dropped out and the same units were back on the market, they became worth one third of what they sold for,’’ he said.

Lori Nery, owner of Coastal Realty in New Bedford, said out-of-town investors have been inquiring about buying properties in the struggling coastal city, where nearly half of this year’s sales have been cash-only. “I think the word is out we are a good bargain,’’ Nery said.

Real estate agents said they are also hearing from more international investors interested in Boston-area properties. Shahan Missaghian, an agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Brookline, said a growing number of Chinese investors are eager to pay cash for multifamily homes in Brighton. She said they are attracted by Brighton’s proximity to Boston College and Boston University, as well as other universities and hospitals.

Chinese investors are generally conservative, Missaghian said, but sometimes they take unusual factors into consideration. For example, one particular home was recently sought after simply because its street address features the digits “88,’’ a combination considered lucky by the Chinese.

“The feng shui has to be right,’’ Shahan said. “They are buying with cash.’’

Lori A. Nery, CBR, LMS, GRI, Owner/ Broker of Coastal Realty and Vice- President of The Nery Corporation has been elected the 2011 President of the Greater New Bedford Association of Realtors©.

After several years serving on GRNBAR committees and the Board of Directors, Lori will now serve as President for 2011.

A licensed Real Estate Broker in MA and RI, Lori has obtained the GRI (Graduate Realtor Institute), CBR, (Certified Buyers Representative), LMS (Loss Mitigation Specialist) and WHALE Historic Home Specialist designations during her career.

Mrs. Nery is a founding member of the New House Buyer’s Program and a member of the Massachusetts and National Association of REALTORS©.  Lori is a committee member of REALTORS© for Charity, a Relay for Life Team Coordinator, Habitat for Humanity Volunteer, Member of the Friends of Buttonwood Park, and the Buttonwood Park Zoological Society.  Lori Nery is a proud member and volunteer of the American Cancer Society and Heart Association.   CONGRATULATIONS !!

IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BUY a HOME!
Mortgage rates fell to the lowest level in decades for the ninth time in 10 weeks!The average rate for a 30-year fixed loan was 4.36 % this week, down from 4.42 % the previous week. That’s the lowest since they began tracking rates in 1971.The average rate on 15-year fixed loan dropped to 3.86 % from 3….90 % last week.That’s the lowest on record! – AP, 8/27/10