We Buy Houses Massachusetts: October 14, 2024 Market Update

YOUR Massachusetts Real Estate Market Update for the week of October 14th

Inventory is down, but it’s going to come back. So seller’s don’t get too excited and buyers… Don’t worry. 

Here is an unpopular opinion. Interest rates are going to hit the pause button. They aren’t going to go down anymore. They are going to stay in this range. Inflation is not down. You and I know this because we go to the grocery store and we see how little our dollar buys us. But somehow the FED has found some stats and manipulated the data to give them cover to do an absurd 50 basis point cut. 

They aren’t going to be able to cut anymore. But more on that later.  

In this article we will go over the Single-Family and condo markets in the state of Massachusetts. And we will also do an interest rate update plus we will talk about some relevant current events. 

Hi I am Jeff Chubb – A recovering Investment Banker turned Real Estate Agent and real estate investor that has sold more than a 1,000 homes. If you have any questions about the real estate market, then know I am here to help. Don’t want to sell a house the “traditional” way and deal with real estate agents, showings, open houses, repairs, staging… And the list goes on and on. Then know We Buy Houses in Massachusetts.

 Let’s jump into the Single-Family market stats.

Inventory is down, but it’s only a small blip as it was because of Columbus Day Weekend. 

We now have 5,794 Single Family homes on the market. That is 3% more homes on the market than 28 days ago. We essentially SHOULD have three more weeks of peak inventory levels of 2024 until we start seeing the Fall pullback. 

Buyers there are some amazing opportunities out there. You just need to know where to look. 

You can really see the extent of the pullback in the year over year inventory levels.        

We now have 1,140 more houses on the market when compared to the same week last year. This is down from 1,315 units last week. So big drop. And we now have 275 more houses on the market when compared to 2022 which is a year long high. 

We had been seeing higher levels in the New Listing market for the last handful of weeks, but this week we dropped below 2022 levels. So what gives? It’s because last year our Columbus Day was on October 9th. So in other words we are comparing a holiday weekend to a non holiday weekend. 

We listed 983 Single Family homes this week which is compared to 1,016 this week last year. This means we were 33 units or 3.3% short. If we wanted to compare Columbus Day Weekend to Columbus Day weekend, then we are looking at 983 newly listed houses compared to 925 last year. 

The 4 week rolling average is 1,202 units. 

Under agreements came in higher this week. Again, this is a non holiday versus holiday data set. This week we put 1,069 Single family homes under agreement. This is 186 units or 21.1% more than the same week last year when we put 883 homes under agreement. 

The four week rolling average is 1,031 units. 

So when compared to last year’s market… New listings were down by 3.3% while under agreements were up by 21.1%. 

This Pendings to New Listings ratio fell this week. The ratio of 90.3% is compared to the 95.5% that we saw this week last year.  What this means is that a little over 90% of all the properties that came on the market two weeks ago went under agreement last week. 

There were 474 Single Family homes that closed last week for an average sales price of $834 thousand dollars and a median sales price of $630 thousand dollars. Sales levels compared to the same week last year were down by 128 units or 21.3% as there were 602 Single Family homes that sold this week last year for an average price of $764k.

Months of inventory. This is how we determine what type of market we are in. 0 to 5 months is considered a sellers’ market with the closer to 0 you get… The more aggressive a seller’s market.

This week’s Months of inventory held steady at 1.81 months. The 1.81 months this week is compared to the 1.53 months this week last year. The gap between this year and last is .28 months. 

This was a pretty significant move from the .33 month gap that we had seen in the last 4 months. This must be why we have seen such a jump in Brockton homeowners searching cash home buyer Brockton MA!

In other words, the weaker market that we had been experiencing actually tightened up a bit and became a little stronger for sellers. 

Real quick, my shameless plug… I just wanted to mention that if you are thinking about buying or selling a home, then it would be a true pleasure to help!

Now onto the Condo market…

We now have 3,227 condos on the market as of Monday. This means that there is 6% more inventory on the market today than the inventory levels on the market just 28 days ago. 

We now have 653 more units on the market today than today last year. 395 more than compared to the inventory levels of 2022 and 237 more units than in 2021. 

New Listings fell off a cliff, but as we have already said, that was thanks to Mr. Columbus. There were 383 condos that came on the market last week with the four week rolling average of 577 units. 

The 383 units listed was 100 units or 20.7% less than the 483 condos that came on the market the same week in 2023. Again, the big disparity is thanks to comparing a holiday week to a non holiday week. 

This week we put 407 units under agreement. This 407 condo sales is 29 units or 7.7% more than the 378 condos that we put under agreement this week last year. 

The four week rolling average for under agreements is 418 units. 

So 20.7% fewer listings came on the market when compared to this week last year while selling 7.7% more condos. 

The condo Pendings to New Listing continues to be level. And it’s kind of an anemic level by the way. This week’s pendings to new listing ratio is 72.5%. This is compared to the 92.6% that we saw this time last year. 

There were 213 condos that sold this week for an average sales price of $743 thousand dollars and a median sales price of $540 thousand dollars. This same week last year there were 264 condos that sold with an average price of $650 thousand dollars. So sales levels were down by 19.3%.

Here is the stat that is really telling about the overall health of the condo market. 

Months of Inventory increased to 2.59 months this week compared to the 2.57 months that we recorded last week. This is compared to the 2.07 months of inventory levels this week last year. The year over year inventory level spread actually decreased to .52 months. 

This breaks a four week streak of a weakening condo market. 

Any chance you can do me a favor? Can you hit that like button? Believe it or not, but it makes a huge difference for me and the channel as it plays with the YouTube algorithm. And SUBSCRIBING… Well that doesn’t hurt either!  

Time to talk about Interest rates… 

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for interest rates. There is no hiding that. But let’s keep things in perspective. Interest rates are down about one percent year over year. 

And let’s keep in mind that interest rates are still at historical lows. 

But I am going to say it again… Interest rates are not going to go down significant levels. I hate to break the bad news to the folks who were hoping and praying for rates to go into the 5s and I even heard people talk about interest rates in the 4s. 

I’ve said it before, but let’s just do a real quick recap as to why. Inflation is caused by there being too much money in an economy that is chasing a limited amount of goods. In other words from the government printing money and running huge deficits. 

Doesn’t matter which side of the fence you sit on. Both sides are talking about spending this and spending that and cutting taxes for tips and being Santa Claus giving everyone this and then that. 

More spending and thereby more borrowing or otherwise known as printing leads to higher inflation. 

Higher inflation leads to higher interest rates. 

The FED screwed us. We just don’t know it yet. They will eventually have to end up over compensating and jack up rates even higher because they threw gas on a fire that was beginning to simmer out… Idiots. 

And be on the lookout because the hurricanes will provide a little cover with some negative economic data in the short term… But then those areas devastated will all need to rebuild which will create a surge in spending. Fun times ahead. 

Let’s say it again… Gold and real estate are THE BEST hedges for high inflationary environments. But keep in mind that you can’t live in a gold bar. Buy a house. Lock in your expenses. As the dollar continues to devalue, your fixed payment will become more and more affordable. 

Want to talk about your personal real estate needs?

Again, it’s Jeff Chubb. Whether you are looking to buy or sell a home in the next 9 or 90 days, then I would love to chat with you and find out about your real estate goals. 

And if you know of anyone that is thinking about buying or selling a house, then I truly appreciate you passing along my information. 

You can visit YouTubeRealEstateAgent.com or find all of my information in the description below!

Until next time.