Is the real estate market starting to shift?: Massachusetts Homebuyers Homeownership

 Surging mortgage prices are causing buyers to step back amid signs a recent Redfin report found point to the start of a shift in the market. Since the beginning of the year, the typical monthly mortgage payment rose by more than five hundred dollars, according to the report. And with rates quickly approaching five percent, Redfin expects the impact of mortgage rates on home buyer demand to change from the buyers looking to purchase before rates rise again to buyers stepping back as costs exceed their budgets.

 Several signs are pointing to the start of this shift, the report found, including fewer people searching online for homes and applying for mortgages than this time last year. Year to date growth in home tours is far below 2021 levels. More sellers are reducing their prices. And the share of homes selling quickly continues to grow yet at a much slower pace than we’ve seen in previous months.

 All this doesn’t mean the market isn’t still hot. Homes today are still selling faster and for more money, as supply remains near record lows and fewer homeowners are putting their homes on the market. Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather said today’s buyers may not feel like the market is getting any easier because they are oftentimes competing against investors, all-cash buyers and those leaving expensive cities who aren’t as sensitive to mortgage rates. “But there are early indicators that the market is turning, and we expect the softening to become more apparent in the coming weeks, eventually causing home-price growth to slow,” he said.

 “We’ll be watching closely to see whether the market slows from one hundred mph to ninety or one hundred mph to seventy five.” Last March, Redfin said it began receiving fewer requests for agents in pricey coastal markets like Seattle, San Diego, Boston and Washington, D.C. areas the company found to be experiencing year over year declines in pending sales, even though homes are selling quicker. California is seeing larger declines in searches, touring and mortgage applications than anywhere else. Mortgage applications and rates are more indicators a change is underway.

 For the week ended March 25th, mortgage applications fell ten percent from the same time last year, the second week in a row of double digit annual decreases. It was up one percent from the prior week. Thirty year mortgage rates rose to 4.67 percent for the week ended March 31st, compared to 4.42 percnet the previous week. It was the highest level they’ve been since December 2018. In the four weeks ended March 27th, active listings fell twenty two percent year over year to four hundred seventy five thousand eight hundred, the fifth lowest level on record. The median asking price rose fifteen percent from 2021 to three hundred ninety nine thousand four hundred and fifty dollars, a new record high.

 Meanwhile, the median sale price increased seventeen percent year over year to a record high of three hundred eighty two thousand seven hundred and thirteen dollars. It was also the biggest jump in the median sale price since the four weeks ended Aug. 1, 2021. Fifty nine percent of homes went under contract with an accepted offer within the first two weeks of being listed, up four percent from last year, marking another record. Additionally, fifty one percent of homes sold above list price, up from forty percent last year, the highest since the four weeks ended Aug. 15, 2021.

The post Is the real estate market starting to shift? appeared first on Boston Agent Magazine.

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.

Did you know that fewer than one percent of the agents and brokers in Massachusetts have committed to being 100% loyal to their buyers 100% of the time?

To learn more about the pros and cons of various types of buyer agents, or to get a list of experienced local 100% loyal buyer's agents to interview without obligation, click the button below.

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