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Massachusetts saw a drop in numbers of new home listings as the fall market approached, but the number of homes on the market still grew.
Greater Boston saw a reduction in pending sales (2.7 percent year-over-year) and new listings (1.5 percent) in August across all residential property types combined, according to a new Redfin analysis. But the number of active listings actually grew significantly (14.1 percent), faster than the nation as a whole.
But once Labor Day rolled around, new listings appear to have bounced back, rising 9.1 percent year-over-year for the four weeks ending Sept. 14, according to MLS data compiled by Redfin. Active listings were up 16.87 percent year-on-year for the same period.
Unlike the Boston area, active listings of homes for sale in the United States fell 1.4 percent month over month in August which is the largest seasonally-adjusted decline since June 2023 according to Redfin’s staff economists. While increasing by 9.7 percent year-over-year, that growth represents the smallest year-over-year increase in any month since March 2024.
“High housing costs and economic jitters have rattled buyers, and that unease has spilled over to sellers. We currently expect existing-home sales to end the year at around 4.05 million, or roughly flat compared to 2024, which was the worst year for sales since 1995,” Redfin head of economics research Chen Zhao said in a statement released along with the analysis. “The good news is mortgage rates have been falling, giving homebuyers more purchasing power. We have yet to see that translate into a significant bump in sales, but that may change if rates continue declining; if we get a stronger-than-expected fall housing market, existing-home sales could end this year a little higher than last year.”
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 6.59 percent over the course of August, according to Redfin, the lowest monthly average in 10 months. Rates have since fallen further, dropping to 6.26 percent last week, the lowest level in roughly a year.
