Sponsored content: Elaine Bannigan of Pinnacle Properties has for the past 23 years put out The Pinnacle Report, a yearly, data-driven look at residential property sales in Wellesley. This Report examines 2024 residential property sales in Wellesley year over year from 2023. Bannigan says, “I always begin with an overall snapshot of statewide activity but remind you that data varies from town to town and one price range to another. The overall Massachusetts single-family median price rose 6% to $640,000 and the transaction volume rose 4%.”
Wellesley—single-family homes
Despite higher and fluctuating interest rates, the Wellesley residential real estate market continued unabated. In 2024, the total number of MLS sales increased 12% from 2023, the median rose 11%, and homes sold 5 days faster. The sale price to original list price ratio remains at 101%. The number of homes that sold for less than $1M continues to dwindle due to lack of supply. Yet again, more young buyers are priced out of Wellesley. Our median sales price is now a stunning $2,138,500.
The price range with the most notable change was from $2M-$2.5M, with transaction volume increasing 65%. That occurred because of greater supply. In this range, only 42 homes were offered for sale in 2023 and 37 sold. In 2024, 61 were offered and the market fully absorbed 61. Between $3M to $4M, transaction volume increased 40% also due to greater supply. Just 28 were offered in 2023 and 25 sold. In 2024, however, 37 were listed 36 sold.
As we begin 2025, there are 18 single-family Wellesley properties available for sale versus 11 a year ago.
Off-Market (non-MLS) sales
There were 52 off-market sales in 2024, 22 more than in 2023.Those that were in mid-to-higher ranges were more apt to involve real estate agents who did not offer the property to all qualified buyers. This practice is certainly beneficial for one agent and the one buyer who didn’t have any competition, but not always clearly advantageous to a home seller. This increase surprised me, as I had thought sellers were getting more savvy about allowing all qualified buyers to compete for their home. As those sales prices don’t fit the definition of ‘fair market value’ their numbers are not included in the tables. In the past, I’ve provided data showing that comes tend to sell for considerably more when listed in MLS.
Local condos and townhomes
The Wellesley condominium market demonstrated why median price changes are not necessarily an accurate indicator of appreciation or depreciation. When the composition of available supply changes dramatically at price extremes, so too does the
median. The median was just $997,000 in 2023, but in 2024 it soared to $1,818,450. This was due to the sales of the now completed and considerable increase in the supply of new luxury units. There were just 32 total sales in 2023 compared to 80 in 2024, and 36 of those units sold for more than $2M.
The following sales data for single-family properties was extracted from the Greater Boston Multiple Listing Service and includes fair market value sales in Wellesley. Non-MLS sales do not necessarily represent fair market value as those are properties that were not fully exposed to the open market.
The Future
The two key considerations for the 2025 housing market are supply and interest rates.
Folks just aren’t moving like they used to. According to data from The National Association of Realtors, in 2006, the average homeowner tenure was 6 years. In 2024 it had increased (with some fluctuation) to 11.9 years. Redfin conducted a recent survey where 34% of U.S. homeowners polled have no plans to sell at all and 27% don’t plan to sell for at least 10 years. Only 7% said they plan to sell within three years. Thirty percent of respondents said they’re staying put because home prices are too high, and 18% don’t want to give up their low mortgage rate. There is still an estimated 4 million homes shortfall in the country. A reduction in mortgage rates would encourage new construction to increase as well as encourage discretionary sellers to list their homes and trade down (where possible), up, or out. In addition to increasing the supply, it would of course create greater home-ownership opportunities for entry-level buyers.
How does all of this affect you? I’m happy to provide a complimentary and confidential consultation. I can be reached at 781-710-3993, or via email at Elaine.Bannigan@Elliman.com.
