In what's becoming a familiar tune for Massachusetts residents, the price of setting up shop in a single-family home has just hit another high note. The median home price in the Greater Boston area is now at a dizzying $900,000, soaring over last year's figures, as reported by the Greater Boston Association of Realtors. With spring normally planting seeds for a bustling housing market, this new March record barely misses out on the all-time high reached during last July's peak season.

It's not just Greater Boston watching digits escalate; The Warren Group's recent analysis reveals a state-wide spike with a median of $580,000 statewide—the highest for March ever recorded. According to Cassidy Norton, associate publisher, and media relations director of The Warren Group "Massachusetts median single-family home prices continued to set records in March," putting more pressure on a market that many hoped would cool. Concurrently, the Bay State has recently extended a helping hand to budding cannabis entrepreneurs with $2.35 million in grants intended to rectify past minor weed convictions, outspokenly manifested in a move by Gov. Maura Healey to open doors for those previously penalized, as detailed by the Boston Herald.

Driving this seemingly relentless uptick in prices is a perfect storm of low inventory and unyielding interest rates. "We lack listings, and that's putting upward pressure on prices and creating affordability issues, especially in the entry-level market," Jared Wilk, association president and broker with Compass in Wellesley, told the Greater Boston Globe. The data backs him up, with a meager 606 homes sold in March, marking the slowest March in sales in 15 years. Listings aren't encouraging either, with a reported drop exceeding 20 percent from last March.

But buyers, fueled by some blend of desperation and optimism, seem undeterred by the astronomical median condo price tag of $740,000—also up from last year. Bidding wars ensue, thrusting many buyers into decisions pushing beyond list prices. And while sellers are holding seats of power in this tight market, there's increasing sentiment that the gridlock can't hold forever. "There’s a greater sense of optimism about the housing market today than any time in the past two years," said Wilk in the same Greater Boston Globe report, noting a shift in attitude even among sellers accustomed to lower interest rates.

With mortgage rates still looming large over the market, the average sitting at a stiff 6.88 percent just last week according to Freddie Mac, it's clear that Greater Boston's residents are tallying up both a financial and an emotional cost as they navigate what has become one of the most competitive housing landscapes in the country.