Greater Boston home price growth slowed over the past two months, and there was more inventory in October 2024 than the year before, according to data compiled by the Greater Boston Association of Realtors (GBAR).
The supply of single-family homes in October jumped 21 percent from October 2023 to 1,664. Inventory decreased from 1,766 in September but increased from 1,251 houses in August.
While increasing, the monthly supply remained tight in October, with two months of inventory. The months' supply of inventory is a real estate metric that indicates how long it would take to sell the current inventory of homes at the current sales rate. A balanced market typically has five to six months of inventory.
There were 885 houses sold in October, a significant increase of 18 percent from September's 751 sales, likely due to a brief but significant dip in interest rates in September. Sales were up 12 percent from 790 in October 2023, when interest rates briefly reached 8 percent for the first time since 2000.
The median condominium price in October increased to $700,000, less than 1 percent compared to October 2023 but 4 percent higher than September 2024. Through October, the median condo rose about 2 percent compared to the same 10-month period in 2023.
The October supply of condominiums jumped 22 percent from October 2023 to 2,253. Inventory decreased slightly from 2,295 in September but increased from 1,679 units in August. There were about three months of condo supply in October.
Condominium sales increased about 4 percent in October to 718 from 692 in October 2023. Home buyers bought 641 units in September, a 12 percent jump.
Greater Boston home buyers appear to be quite interest-rate sensitive. Activity picks up as rates drift closer to 6 percent and slows down when rates reach around 7 percent.