Conway Reports Best Sales Gains in History

Although the state's real estate market has shown signs of slowing during the first half of this year, Norwell-based Jack Conway & Co. reported its best sales performance ever for June.

The results were announced by Chairman Jack Conway at the company's mid-year meeting in July. He said

"It's all of the little things you do that add up to these big things," Conway said. "Real estate has always been about helping people, and our company is helping more and more people buy and sell homes each month."

Conway pointed to data collected by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) that show the Bay State's real estate market is the healthiest in terms of supply since the first quarter of 1998. In the first quarter of 2003, the monthly average of single-family homes-detached houses and condos-increased 11.9 percent to 34,010 units over the same period the previous year.

Condominium sales also are driving the growth. Second-quarter sales volume reflected an all-time record number of condominiums sold in a three-month period. The MAR data also show that for the first time ever, more than a quarter of all homes sold in Massachusetts were condos.

Conway noted that in the third week of August, for example, there were 73 condominiums listed for sale by the 41 Jack Conway & Co. real estate offices, with an average price of $289,295. The properties available at that time ranged from a one-bedroom unit in Bridgewater for $113,900 to a brand-new 6-room, 2bedroom condo with ocean views in South Boston for $689,000.

Condo prices also increased in every region of the state during the six-month period, up 9.7 percent to an average of $261,309. The largest gains were in the Southeast region, 37.1 percent, to an average of $145,578, and on Cape Cod, 22.3 percent, to $216,883.

"When single-family homes are out of reach, people consider condominiums as a way to enter the housing market," Conway said.

In 2002, Conway reported more than $1.53 billion in sales and was rated 77th in both the number of sales and transactions among realty companies in the United States by National Relocation and Real Estate Magazine's annual Power Broker survey. The firm placed 75th in sales volume and 74th in closed transactions in the Real Trends 500 Report.

The ratings also indicated that Jack Conway & Co. is Massachusetts' largest privately owned company, and the largest independent among five New England states-Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

"Most of our competitors are franchised conglomerates owned by national interests, Conway explained. "It is nice to be local, independent and successful."

In addition to residential sales offices, Conway operates a mortgage company, fullservice relocation department, commercial and business brokerage, property management division, referral registry and educational center.