This month, Nick takes a look at how the market has shifted since last year based on the numbers. He discusses the trend many experts are seeing as Boston shifts into more of a buyer’s market. He also gives tips to buyers looking to make a purchase early in the new year.

According to a recent articles, the Boston condo market has seen a slight decline in the number of sales and median sales price. What are your thoughts on this?

It is certainly true we are seeing a shift in the overall market here in Boston. With that said, you have to remember that we were in a seller’s market for so many years that any change is going to feel significant. As I have said before, I expect most of Boston’s neighborhoods to arrive in a neutral market (3-6 months supply) in 2020 so this change is expected.

One thing to remember when considering to buy or sell real estate is that each one of Boston’s neighborhoods has its own submarket which can differ from the overall trend so it is important to have an agent who understands this. This is the main reason why we created the Warren Report which takes a detailed look at each neighborhood’s data points and not just the Boston market as a whole.

And, in the single-family market, the number of deals was down 35% annually towards the end of last year, what are you seeing as a reason for this trend?

That is an interesting statistic and one that I might question a bit. When I pull the year over year stats for single-family sales in all of Boston I actually see only a 5.72% drop in total transactions and actually see an increase in the average sales price of 5.64%. Even more interesting is that the existing inventory on December 31st, 2019 was down 27.45% vs the same date in 2018. This data is pulled directly from MLSPin.

For buyers looking to make a purchase early this year, what tips do you have?

As you can see, there can be a lot of confusing data and information out there about what is actually happening in the real estate market. Many news outlets are using clickbait headlines to get more views so my biggest tip is to find an agent who can help interpret the data correctly and give you an accurate assessment of what is happening in the specific markets you are looking to buy or sell in. Buyer or selling a home is one of the biggest financial decisions of your life so you shouldn’t go it alone.