NANCY EDMOND – Expects busy season
Summer vacations are over and it’s back to school for many students this week, and for some prospective buyers it’s time to go back to seriously hunting for the perfect home.
This fall, unlike prior years, homebuyers may have a slight edge over sellers – at least in the Greater Boston area. Some Bay State real estate agents say homebuyers will have more for-sale homes to choose from, as properties have lingered on the market days longer and price appreciation has leveled off.
Overall, local Realtors are preparing for steady activity this fall season after a slide in home sales during most of 2003 and a small upswing in July.
“I think we’re all expecting a really good fall. People are trying to buy before the interest rates … go up,” said Nancy Edmond, Greater Boston region vice president for the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.
In contrast to prior years, when real estate agents in Greater Boston had few listings to show prospective clients and bidding wars were more common as buyers scrambled to snatch the most desirable properties available, the inventory of for-sale homes appears to be larger this year, according to local Realtors.
There were more than 30,000 homes listed for sale as of this July, up from 24,635 last July. With more homes on the market for buyers to choose from, the upward pressure on home prices seems to be easing, say some Realtors. But the inventory build-up hasn’t translated into precipitous price drops. In fact, the average selling price for single-family home sold in July, $387,629, was 6.1 percent higher than a year ago. The average selling price for condos during the same period jumped 10.8 percent to $270,325 from $243,897.
“We’re seeing good balance in the pricing,” said Bruce Taylor, ERA Key Realty Services in Milford. ERA Key Realty, which has expanded its sales force by 75 agents within the past 12 months, has offices in Central Massachusetts, the Blackstone Valley and the MetroWest region.
Taylor said an increase in homes for sale has helped stabilize the market. Today, the residential real estate market is not as skewed toward sellers as it has been in the past, although Taylor said it can’t be characterized as a buyer’s market either.
“There seems to be enough inventory to satisfy the demand. Homes that are well priced are certainly still attracting multiple offers,” he said.
“We don’t have the fierce competitive bidding that we did a year ago,” added Taylor, who noted that most homes are selling in less than 90 days after coming on the market.
Inventory Problem
Residential real estate activity typically picks up in the fall after a slight lull during the summer, particularly in August, when many people are on vacation. This year, however, many Realtors were reporting brisk activity in the summer months because the harsh winter weather and the wet spring weather put a damper on homebuying and selling during months that are traditionally the busiest for real estate.
Last week, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors reported that single-family home sales climbed 10.6 percent in July compared to the same month in 2002. Some 5,319 single-family homes were sold, up from 4,810 last July. It was the first month this year that single-family home sales were higher than the prior year. The jump in condo sales was even more pronounced in July. Condo sales were 31 percent higher in July of this year compared to a year ago. There were 1,858 condo sales in July, compared to 1,419 during the same month a year ago.
Meanwhile, the average selling prices for condos and single-family homes continued to go up.
Some Realtors theorize that the gradual increase in the low mortgage interest rates in recent weeks spurred many homebuyers to purchase a home.
On the North Shore, single-family homes were selling, on average, 72 days after coming on the market during the first half of the year, and condos were selling within 65 days. Realtor Lois Williams, who is treasurer of the North Shore Association of Realtors, anticipates that homes will take longer to sell as more homes are put up for sale in the fall. “I think we’re going to see that number [days on the market] increase,” she said.
Even though it is taking longer to sell some properties, there still aren’t enough homes for sale in the Greater Lowell area for the buyers that are out there looking, according to Elaine Marsella, another North Shore Realtor.
“Inventory is still a problem,” said Marsella, manager of Carlson GMAC Real Estate in Chelmsford and president-elect of NSAR. “Things are staying on the market longer but we’re not seeing tons of property coming on the market either.”
Marsella has also noticed that relocation activity has picked up in recent weeks. “I think that [home sales are] going to continue the way they have been for the balance of 2003,” she said.
Donna Brooks, broker owner of Boss Realty Group and Brooks Auctions in Leominster, said that the inventory of homes for sale climbed in June and July, but it’s dropped again.
“We need more,” said Brooks, who is also central region vice president for MAR. “We’re still selling stuff over list [price].”
