Plymouth County recorded the fewest number of mortgages this month since April 2019, reported Register of Deeds John R. Buckley, Jr.
The Registry of Deeds recorded 1,578 mortgages in July, compared to 2,619 mortgages recorded during July 2021. The July recordings brings the 2022 total to 5,191, well behind last year’s pace.
“Last year at this time, we had recorded 5,949 mortgages through July,” Buckley said. “One of the goals of the Federal Reserve in increasing the interest rates was to slow down the real estate market. That effort can be seen in the above-noted 43 percent decline in mortgage recordings, and with the decrease in sales recordings noted below.
The total sales volume for the first seven months of 2022 showed 5,191 transactions compared to 5,949 transactions in 2021, a 13 percent difference.
“The gap in sales continues to widen as the year progresses. For example, back in March there was only a 7 percent drop in sales compared to 2021, noted Buckley. “Hopefully the sales activity will pick up in the fall.”
Prices have continued to climb over the past year. The year-to-date average sale price topped $600,000 for the first time, coming in at $603,984. This represents a 12 percent increase over the $537,074 reported at the seven-month mark in 2021.
“Prices continue to creep up further attesting to the perception that we have low inventory and thus a seller’s market,” Buckley noted.
Plymouth County continues to see an uptick in foreclosure activity. Buckley reported 39 notices to foreclose in July 2022. This calculates out to 10 more notices than were recorded last month, and 31 more than were recorded in July 2021, when the moratorium was still in effect. This figure brings the total number of notices recorded in 2022 to 245, representing an increase of 150 percent over the 98 recorded during the first seven months of 2021.
Thus far this year Plymouth County has recorded 55 foreclosure deeds. This represents a 45 percent increase over the 38 deed foreclosures recorded last year at this time.
