Boston Real Estate Market during COVID-19 Pandemic
We are now on to the fifth month of the year and as the world still tackles on the issues of this COVID-19 global pandemic, the Boston Real Estate market has had no chill. Our traditional real estate photography business is slowing down as demands for virtual tours increase.
The median sales price for condos has become higher than single-family houses while the number of homes listed for sale dropped steeply in the Boston area, a sign of the pandemic’s continued effects on the region’s bustling housing market.
Stay At Home Orders
Even amidst the stay-at-home order, the market kept breaking records for prices. According to new figures, the median sales price for a single-family house was $402,000, up 6.5%. The median sales price for condos was $492,000, up 19.2%.
There was an increase in the number of single-family house sales by 2%, but the number of condo sales went down by 0.5%.
The median condo price has increased by double digits as new units reached occupancy, but the uncertainty is whether these new condo units under contract and ready for occupancy might close despite the recession.
There was a sharp decline in inventory in Greater Boston, but despite this, home prices had gone up. The high volume of buyers combined with the declining number of inventory lead to an increase in the median sales price of both single-family houses and condo units. According to the reports, the median price for a single-family house went up by 6.8% year over year to $640,000. While in the condo market, the median price jumped up to 12.7% year over year to $619,950.
In Boston Proper, prices also went up, but the listings went down. The median sales price for houses was $652,500, up 3.6%; and for a condo, it was $720,000, up 17.8%. The number of active house listings was down by 35.8% while the condo listings went down 19.6%.
Analysts expect that the pandemic will have a deep effect on the market, though it might now last long.
Future Challenges
The challenge going forward with the severe listing shortage combined with the steady buyer demand will continue to put pressure on prices to increase. To keep the prices from rising further, there should be an increase in the housing supply.
The spring market was heading to be a busy house-buying season and was pretty promising until the global health crisis derailed it. Access to properties started to have an impact on showings and sales. There could have been a larger inventory of properties to sell, but the activity was deliberately restricted as the stay-at-home orders were implemented, so the large crowds of buyers at open houses and listings shrunk.
The bottom line is, because of the severity of the corona-virus pandemic, the health and safety of all the residents were put on top priority, so it’s expected that the market would slow down considerably for the Boston Real Estate Market.
