Inventory falls 40 percent from pre-pandemic levels, as home values accelerate: Massachusetts Homebuyers Homeownership

 Housing inventory has reached another record low, dropping 40.5 percent in the past two years, according to Zillow’s December Monthly Report. That drop in inventory is hampering buyers as the spring home shopping season gets underway earlier than usual. But while inventory continues to drop, that limited supply is increasing price growth, as the pace of home value appreciation rose for the first time since July 2021.  Zillow’s report found that while the current market favors sellers, the uncertainty around the rise in COVID cases is creating hesitancy among buyers to join the market and could be discouraging would be home sellers to list their properties.

 Jeff Tucker, senior economist at Zillow, said home shoppers picked the shelves clean last month, leaving fewer active listings than ever before. “Enough determined buyers kept up their house hunt to reignite monthly price appreciation,” he said in a press release. “Rising mortgage rates could be the next potential headwind, but demand has proven persistent; neither high prices nor slim inventories have deterred buyers so far.”  Nationally, the report found December home values were 19.6 percent higher than a year before; the pace of growth reached an all time high in more than two decades worth of data. Monthly growth, which had been slowing since July, accelerated to 1.4 percent in December from 1.2 percent in November.

 Last month, Boston home values rose 14.3 percent from the prior-year period to $612,114, an increase of 0.8 percent from November. Rent growth slowed in December, according to the report, which recorded the lowest monthly growth since February 2020. Despite the slowdown, typical rents rose a record 15.7 percent year over year and posted gains in all 50 of the country’s largest metros. Boston rents grew to $2,608 in December, up 13.7 percent from 2020.

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Who Pays the Home Buyer's Agent?

Both seller's agent fees and buyer agent's fees are part of a typical real estate transaction and are included in the final negotiated purchase price of the property. There should be no additional fees to the buyer for a buyer's agent above and beyond the negotiated purchase price of a home unless specifically agreed in writing between the buyer and agent before an offer is made.

In most cases, the seller's agent pays the buyer's agent for bringing the buyer, negotiating the purchase price and terms, writing a legally correct offer, coordinating inspections, responses, and financing plus handling numerous additional details on the buyer's side of the transaction.

Buyers should avoid contacting seller's agents and sellers directly unless they are comfortable negotiating and representing themselves. That is why it is important for buyers to choose their agents BEFORE they begin looking at homes or as soon as possible if they have begun looking.

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