Greater Boston home sales slow, but prices don't let up
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High mortgage rates have all but frozen the U.S. housing market, Axios' Sami Sparber writes.
Why it matters: The "lock-in effect" is real. As one real estate agent put it, 2023 was "the year your first home accidentally became your forever home."
- Many people are interested in moving, but not to swap their 3% interest rate for 7-8%, Minnesota-based Jake Hlebain tells Axios.
Driving the news: The Boston area's median monthly home prices stalled at $685,000 in October, still far higher than the national median of $413,874, per Redfin.
- Single-family home sales in October fell to their lowest monthly total since 2011, with a record-high median price of $829,950, per the Greater Boston Association of Realtors' monthly report.
Zoom in: Home sales for condos and multi-family homes also fell in October, while median prices continued to increase.
Between the lines: The state's plan to accelerate multi-family housing production near train stations stalled amid backlash from residents in several suburbs, prompting the Healey administration to impose new penalties for noncompliance.
- The Healey administration announced last week that Lexington and Salem became the first two municipalities to be certified under the MBTA Communities Law, per StreetsBlog Mass.
Zoom out: Across the country, it got even harder for first-timers to make the leap to homeownership this year.
- You now have to earn $115,000 a year to afford a typical house, Axios' Emily Peck reports.
What we're watching: Mortgage rates would need to slide significantly to loosen homeowners' golden handcuffs and boost listing activity, real estate experts say.
- Some shoppers are starting to accept that rates probably won't fall back to pandemic levels.
- Others have found deals on new construction, townhomes or condos.