By Maureen Celata
Just as predicted in my September 2021 article the real estate market is showing signs of price adjustments and some inventories are sitting on the market a little bit longer. Prices are slightly lower than their peak and inventory levels increasing slightly over the previous month: Buyers have a stronger bargaining position than they did six months ago.
After nearly a year of record-breaking sales and prices, the Suffolk County residential real estate market appears to be cooling, perhaps only temporarily. In September, single family homes sales fell for the second consecutive month on an annual basis, while median selling prices of single family homes and condominiums fell or remained flat for the third consecutive month.
The slowdown comes on the heels of a sharp increase in new properties for sale last month and at a time when mortgage rates are gradually increasing. Two consecutive months have seen single family sales decrease over 20 % in August and over 13% in September year over year.
It is the twenty-third consecutive month that the median single-family home price has increased year over year, and the sixth consecutive month the median condo sale price has increased year over year. Monthly, the median selling price of a single-family home has decreased in each of the last three months. And September’s median selling price is down 7.6 percent from June’s all-time high. Information obtained from Greater Boston Association of REALTORS.
What does this mean?
It is this Brokers opinion that we will have to see when and how much the Feds increase the prime lending rate. Then and only then will we know the direction of the housing market for Buyers and Sellers alike.
Maureen Celata is the owner/operator of M Celata Real Estate, of Revere.
