With home prices in Greater Boston reaching record highs, the median sale price of a single-family home is now brushing up against the $1 million mark. According to the Greater Boston Association of Realtors (GBAR), April saw the median-priced single-family home soar to $990,000, a figure that places homeownership out of reach for many. This development signals an increasingly challenging market for prospective buyers, reported NBC Boston.
The surging prices are not just affecting buyers but also those already in the market like Emma Sewell, who has been renting in South Boston since 2021. Sewell and her fiancé are contemplating whether to renew their lease or purchase a home in the suburbs. "I am in awe. I don’t know how prices have gotten that high, and then seeing what you get with that is kind of shocking at times," Sewell told NBC Boston. The couple’s quandary reflects a broader market sentiment, as rising rents and high purchase prices create difficult decisions for residents.
Despite the spike in prices, the number of listings has also seen a significant increase, nearly 25% more for single-family homes and almost 30% for condominiums. GBAR President Mark Triglione was quoted by The Boston Globe noting this balance in the market as "refreshing" and indicating a more moderate buyer and seller behavior.
Despite the notion that increased inventory could lead to a drop in prices, this may not be the instant result in a market like Greater Boston's, packed with top educational and medical institutions, that perpetually draws new residents. "Because we have such extensive educational, and medical resources in the area, there's always just such an overwhelming demand, not only for people who live here to stay here but for new people to come in," Triglione explained to NBC Boston. Meanwhile, the condominium market experienced a rise as well, the median sale price hitting a record of $732,000, which is a 4.4% increase from the same period last year.
Advising first-time homebuyers, Alex Blizard, a broker specializing in this buyer category, suggests that getting pre-approved is key to understand their purchasing power and to know if there's room to improve their credit score for better interest rates. Blizard’s comments were sourced from an interview with NBC Boston.
