Updated: Boston Real Estate Blog 2023
Byline – John Ford – Boston Condo Broker
Boston condos for sale: Low inventory is a concern
Boston Real Estate for Sale
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Boston condos for sale: Low inventory is a concern
Boston condo for sale and low inventory is a concern. If you’re thinking about moving, it’s important to know what’s happening in the housing market. Here’s an update on the supply of homes currently for sale. Whether you’re buying or selling a Boston condo for sale, the number of homes in your area is something you should pay attention to.
In the housing market, there are regular patterns that happen every year, called seasonality. Spring is the peak homebuying season and also when the most homes are typically listed for sale (homes coming onto the market are known in the industry as new listings). In the second half of each year, the number of new listings typically decreases as the pace of sales slows down.
The graph below uses data from Realtor.com to provide a visual of this seasonality. It shows how this year (the black line) is breaking from the norm (see graph below):
Looking at this graph, three things become clear:
- 2017-2019 (the blue and gray lines) follow the same general pattern. These years were very typical in the housing market and their lines on the graph show normal, seasonal trends.
- Starting in 2020, the data broke from the normal trend. The big drop down in 2020 (the orange line) signals when the pandemic hit and many sellers paused their plans to move. 2021 (the green line) and 2022 (the red line) follow the normal trend a bit more, but still are abnormal in their own ways.
- This year (the black line) is truly unique. The steep drop off in new listings that usually occurs this time of year hasn’t happened. If 2023 followed the norm, the line representing this year would look more like the dotted black line. Instead, what’s happening is the number of new listings is stabilizing. And, there are even more new listings coming to the market this year compared to the same time last year.
What Does This Mean for You?
- For Boston condo buyers, new listings stabilizing is a positive sign. It means you have a more steady stream of options coming onto the market and more choices for your next home than you would have at the same time last year. This opens up possibilities and allows you to explore a variety of homes that suit your needs.
- For Boston condo sellers, while new listings are breaking seasonal norms, inventory is still well below where it was before the pandemic. If you look again at the graph, you’ll see the black line for this year is still lower than normal, meaning inventory isn’t going up dramatically and prices aren’t heading for a crash. And with less competition from other sellers than you’d see in a more typical year, your house has a better chance to be in the spotlight and attract eager buyers.
Boston Condos for Sale and the Bottom Line
Whether you’re on the hunt for your next home or thinking of selling, now might just be the perfect time to make your move. If you have questions or concerns about the availability of homes in our local area, let’s connect.
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Where is Ford Realty Located?
Ford Realty is located in 137 Charles Street in Beacon Hill
Ford Realty Beacon Hill – Condo for Sale Office
Boston condos for sale – Ford Realty Inc
Updated: Boston Condos for Sale Blog 2023
John Ford Boston Beacon Hill Condo Broker 137 Charles St. Boston, MA 02114
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Boston condos for sale: Low inventory is a concern
Yes, Boston condo for sale inventory is a concern here and across the country. In this video Mathew discusses how low inventory is affecting the housing market and how we are adapting.
Updated: Boston Real Estate Blog 2023
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Boston condos for sale: Low inventory is a concern
Low inventory continued to plague the Bay State’s summer real estate market in May, as new listings and closed sales declined again.
The Massachusetts Association of Realtors May housing data report found that while inventory remained tight, building new inventory to rebalance the market is becoming even more critical.
July will mark two years of consistent closed sales declines in Massachusetts as median sales prices continue to rise. The impact on both is fueled by inventory constrictions, which are creating serious competition for local buyers.
David McCarthy, 2023 MAR president, said many current homeowners are hesitant to enter the market because they’re unwilling to abandon the lower mortgage rates they locked in several years ago and “wade into the fray.”
“Homes are moving quickly, and we’re hopeful that some slight leveling off where the median price is concerned will help create an influx of new existing home inventory, but a high volume of new builds in a variety of categories will be necessary to truly balance the Massachusetts housing market,” he said.
Last month, the median price for a single-family home in Massachusetts increased 0.2% from May 2022 to $616,450, while new, single-family home listings decreased by 18.7%.
Condominium prices also rose slightly in May, up 1.1% to $543,870, while condo listings fell 9.7%.
The report also found that year over year, single-family closed sales fell 22.3% from 2022, while closed condo sales dropped 22.7%.
Updated :Boston Real Estate Blog 2023
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Boston condos for sale: Low inventory is a concern
Existing home sales surprisingly reversed course in February, falling by 6.6% compared to the previous month, following several sharp monthly gains.
That’s according to the National Association of Realtors, which said in a report that the sales dip is primarily due to low inventories of existing homes for sale in the U.S. However, the NAR’s chief economist Lawrence Yun said the dip isn’t a significant drag on the overall real estate market.
“The market is still outperforming pre-pandemic levels,” Yun said.
The NAR reported that all four major U.S. regions saw year-over-year sales gains in February, despite housing supply challenges. Total existing home sales, which are defined as completed transactions of single-family homes, townhomes, condos and co-ops, fell to an annual rate of 6.22 million in February. But sales were still up 9.1% from the same month last year.
Yun warned that a slowdown in sales growth is possible over the coming months, due to rising home prices and mortgage rates that are chipping away at affordability. But he said he still thinks home sales in 2021 will be higher than last year. With more people getting vaccinated against COVID-19, he said the U.S. is on the cusp of returning to a sense of normalcy.
“Many Americans have been saving money, and there’s a strong possibility that once the country fully reopens, those reserves will be unleashed on the economy,” he said.
The NAR’s report found that the median existing-home price for all housing types rose 15.8% from a year ago to $313,000 in February. It said prices increased in each of the four major regions, with a 20.6% gain in the West and a 20.5% gain in the Northeast. The Midwest saw median home prices rise 14.2%, while the South saw gains of 13.6%.
One of the main factors behind those is housing inventory, which decreased yet again in February, the NAR said. The number of homes for sale was down 30% from one year ago, with unsold inventory now sitting at a two-month supply at the current sales pace. The average day spent on the market also fell, to less than a month. Homes typically spend just 20 days on the market before being sold, down from 36 days one year ago. Overall, 74% of all homes sold in less than a month.
The only region to see home sales growth in the last month was the West. There, sales increased by 4.6% to an annual rate of 1.37 million, the NAR said, up 12.3% from a year ago with a median price per home of $493,300, way above the national average. Elsewhere, in the Northeast, Midwest and the West, home sales fell by 11.5%, 14.4%, and 6.1% respectively, compared to the previous month.
Boston Real Estate for Sale
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Updated: Boston Real Estate Blog 2023
Byline – John Ford – Boston Condo Broker
