Is the Boston Real Estate Market Cooling Off?
Sales of single-families and condos increased in September in the Boston area in September compared with the year before, according to a new report from real estate research firm the Warren Group and the Greater Boston Association of Realtors.
At the same time, the report—which tracked closed deals in 64 towns and cities, including Boston—also found that prices were either up only slightly last month or down. And there were generally more homes for prospective buyers to choose from in September than previously.
These conditions have the realtors association suggesting the once unthinkable: That the Boston-area housing market—so long the domain of ceaseless escalating prices, vicious bidding wars, and often paltry inventory—might be turning in favor of buyers.
“The sellers’ market is likely over, or at least the balance has shifted,” Jim Major, president of the Greater Boston Association of Realtors and an agent with Century 21 North East in Woburn, said in a statement. “With sale prices having begun to stabilize, more homes and condos available for sale, and properties sitting on the market longer, home values have most likely peaked in many areas.”
Major also described the regional market as “a more normal” one in September—not necessarily one that’s a bonanza for buyers, but perhaps trending toward that.