Snapshot of the Real Estate Market

But it’s not all bad news. 

While year-over-year closed sales fell in the Bay State, pending sales last month increased both nationally and locally, indicating increased market activity could not be too far behind, MAR says. And when you add that to December’s report, which found buyer demand continued to outpace supply, things are looking up in the market. 

Pending sales of single-family homes in January were up 18%, and condominiums were up 10.6%, an indication that buyers are looking to purchase even with no significant price declines.

“We understand that some buyers and sellers might be remaining cautious while they wait to see where the market is headed in 2023, but pending sales indicate that buyers are out and making purchase decisions,” said David McCarthy, 2023 president of MAR and Realtor at Keller Williams. “Over the years, one trend we’ve observed is that if we have a warmer start to the year, market activity tends to pick back up before the cyclically busy spring market. With a bump in inventory and a mild winter thus far, we’re optimistic market activity will increase even before we officially enter spring.”

Last month, the median price for a single-family home showed no change from last year at $520,000, while new, single-family home listings decreased by 5.8%. 

Condominium prices, however, rose in January, jumping 10.4% to $497,000, while condo listings fell 7.4%.

The report also found that year over year, single-family closed sales fell 32.6% to 2,238 from 2022’s 3,320, while closed condo sales dropped 25.3% to 1,056 from 1,413.

While January was hot, pending home sales fell 1% during the four weeks ended Jan. 23. It was the first year-over-year decline since June 2020. Lack of buyers wasn’t the issue, it was the lack of sellers. 

In January, new listings fell 12%, the largest decline since June 2020, as the number of homes for sale hit another record low. The median asking price rose 13% to $360,281, just below October’s all-time high, while the median sale price increased 14% year over year to $357,300, according to the report. 

Early spring 2022 is poised to be the hottest housing market on record but it may be short-lived, according to Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. 

“Now that the stock market is down about 10% from the start of the year and mortgage rates are up nearly half a point, the housing market could lose its luster soon,” he said. “If that happens, I expect the inventory shortage to finally reach its nadir because overpriced homes will start to pile up on the market.”

More than a third of all homes (35%) went under contract with an accepted offer within one week of being listed, up from 30% a year prior. Additionally, 41% of homes sold above list price, up from 32% last year. 

The report noted a 2% week-over-week decrease in mortgage applications during the week ended Jan. 21. Thirty-year mortgage rates were flat at 3.55% for the week ended Jan. 27, the highest level since March of 2020.