Massachusetts Home Buyer Guide

The number of homes listed for sale across the U.S. increased by 4.3 percent in June to 1.9 million homes, the highest level in the last year, Realtor.com reported July 15, 2013. 

Nationally, the number of homes listed for sale stood 7.3 percent below year ago levels; however, the year-over-year decline stood at 18.6 percent in February 2013. June was the sixth straight month real estate inventories rose. 

Boston homeowners didn't get the memo.

A couple of weeks ago two Buyers Brokers Only, LLC home buyers closed on Massachusetts homes on consecutive days with fixed, 30-year mortgage interest rates of less than 3.5 percent. One couple were first-time home buyers and the other couple were moving to a newer, more modern, home.

Mortgage interest rates may not be that low again in their lifetime; however, not everyone thinks it is a bad thing for the real estate market, especially hot markets, such as in Greater Boston, where home prices have been rapidly rising over the past year and real estate inventory is tight.  

While the media and the real estate industry earlier this week trumpeted the fact that single-family home sales reached the highest level since 2006 in May 2013 the more important number for Massachusetts home buyers is the jump in the median price of homes compared to May 2012.

After reports last year about how affordable homes were historically speaking, the Massachusetts real estate market heated up. Now that home prices have increased and mortgage interest rates have begun to rise recently home buyers, especially first-time home buyers, are feeling squeezed in a market still lacking sufficient inventory.  

While the median price of a single-family home increased 10.5 percent statewide in April 2013 Walpole, Massachusetts saw its median price for a single-family home decline 20.4 percent, according to data from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR).

The median price of a single-family home in Walpole, MA stood at $410,000 in April 2013, down from $515,000 in April 2012. During the first four months of 2013, the median price of a single-family home declined 14.4 percent, from $450,000 in 2012 to $385,000. 

The median price of a single-family home in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts increased 14.2 percent in April compared to April 2012 while sales increased nearly 44 percent, according to data compiled by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. 

The median price of a single-family house in Shrewsbury increased from $300,000 in April 2012 to $342,500 in April 2013. Through the first four months of 2013, median price rose 9.7 percent, from $300,000 in 2012 to $329,000. 

The median price of a single-family home in Haverhill, Massachusetts increased 32.7 percent in April, climbing from $209,900 in April 2012 to $278,500, according to data provided by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. 

Through the first four months of the year, the median price of a single-family home in Haverhill increased 25.6 percent. The median price increased from $215,000 during the first four months of 2012 to $270,000 for the same period in 2013. The lack of real estate inventory played a role in the home price increase. In April, inventory declined 17.9 percent compared to April 2012; however, new listings did increase 5.7 percent.

As expected, the median price for single-family homes in Massachusetts increased in April; however, the big story for home buyers is the increase in new homes for sale across the state. 

New single-family home listings added to the market in April 2013 increased 12.7 percent compared to the same time last year (9,350 new listings in April 2013 cpmpared to 8,294 listings in April 2012). There was a 44 percent increase in new homes for sale from the 6,468 listings added to the market in March 2013. April saw the biggest increase in new home listings since April 2010, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors reported May 29, 2013. 

Single-family home prices in Wilmington, Massachusetts increased more than 16 percent in March to $377,629 compared to March 2012, the WilmingtonPatch reported May 6, 2013. 

Wilmington, MA had 18 single-family homes sold in March, the same total that sold in March 2012. In the first quarter, 45 single-family homes sold in Wilmington, down from 46 during the same time period in 2012. 

The median price of a single-family home in Tewksbury, Massachusetts increased nearly 25 percent to $304,000 in March 2013 compared to March 2012, the TewksburyPatch reported May 6, 2013. 

The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, provided the Tewksbury, MA real estate data. 

Greater Boston home buyers saw the average price of a single-family home increase by 5.2 percent in February compared to February 2012, according to the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which was last released April 30, 2013. 

The report showed that home prices in Boston, using seasonally adjusted data, increased 1.1 percent from January to February. The index is made up of 20 cities, and all 20 cities have shown an increase in home values for at least two consecutive months on a year-over-year basis. 

NECN's This Week in Business segment on April 7, 2013 took a look at the Spring real estate market in the Greater Boston Area. This 10:42-minute video is a discussion of the real estate market with Tim Warren of The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, and Kimberly Allard-Moccia, President of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.  

The following 9:26-minute video from WGBH News, from March 2013, discusses the lack of inventory in the Greater Boston real estate market and the situation facing Boston area home buyers.

A month later and the inventory situation hasn't changed much, with properties moving fast and bidding wars commonplace.