As the fiscal year 2021 came to a close on June 30, Plymouth Country Registry of Deeds Registrar John R. Buckley confirmed that real estate transactions exceeded all expectations.
Buckley said total revenues exceeded estimates by approximately $2.2 million, representing about a 35 percent increase in expected revenues. Total revenues were estimated at $5.6 million. Actual revenues came in at $7.8 million.
Plymouth County reported 1,127 sales in June 2021 compared to 836 sales in June 2020.
“That’s the most monthly sales we have seen this year,” noted Buckley. “The demand appears relatively unaffected by the continued increase in home prices.”
The average sales price of a single-family home in Plymouth County jumped 17 percent compared to last June. The average sales price today is $532,214. Last year at this time the average sales price was $453,063. The total sales volume for 2021 year-to-date exceeds 2020 sales by 22 percent. Thus far in 2021, there have been 4,981 sales in Plymouth County, compared to 4,075 sales for the same time period in 2020. The 170,232 documents recorded during FY 2021 are the highest number of documents recorded since 2006.
In addition, Plymouth County recorded 3,115 mortgages during the month of June.
“We have recorded over 3,000 mortgages during each month except one during the past 12 months,” said Buckley. “The low interest rates have fueled the surge in mortgages. Last year at this time Plymouth County had recorded 14,514 mortgages, representing a 57 percent increase over 2019. This year at the half-way mark, 20,121 mortgages have been recorded, representing another 39 percent increase in mortgage recordings.”
With interest rates recently again dropping below 3 percent, it is likely that the number of recordings will continue to be robust, he added.
Year-to-date there have been 30 foreclosure deeds recorded compared to 108 foreclosure deeds recorded through June 2020. This amounts to a 72 percent decline in foreclosure deed recorded. There were 17 notices initiating new foreclosures recorded in June, compared to zero notices that were recorded in June 2020. Thus far this year there have been 90 foreclosure notices recorded, compared to the 202 foreclosure notices recorded through June 2020, most of which were pre-pandemic. This represents a 56 percent decline in those recordings. With the impending expiration of the moratoriums, it is likely that the number of foreclosures will increase in the coming months, Buckley said.
