Mortgage rates highest in 21 years
The average 30-year fixed mortgage is now at 7.09%, the highest since 2002. The NY Times reports that analysts predict that the rate will start to fall towards the end of 2023.The housing market in the US is now stagnant. Owners with low mortgage rates don't want to sell and many buyers don't want to lock in a rate that's double what it would have been a few years ago.Home sale volume is low across the country and that shortage of supply is keeping prices of existing homes high and rising.While existing home sales are falling, the sale of new construction is rising. However, most of those newly built homes are in the luxury range, which is most profitable for homebuilders.Read the full NYTimes report here:Interest Rates at 21 year high
MA home sales volume lowest since reporting began in 2004
The Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) has released the year-over-year data on home sales in the state.While median sale price of single families inched up by $25,000 statewide, condos stayed the same. The huge drop was in the number of homes listed and sold.June 2023 had the lowest number of homes for sale - both single-families and condos -- since MAR started collecting this data in 2004.See the chart below for all the details:7.28.3
High home prices don't equal a homebuying boom this Spring
Spring is often considered the peak homebuying season and sellers who can, wait until Spring to list their houses, knowing they'll usually get a higher price and faster sale.Not this year. According to Larry Edelman of the Boston Globe, 2023 marked the slowest May for condo sales since 2015 and the slowest May for home sales since 2011, at least in Greater Boston.The average interest rate on residential mortgages was 6.5%, which certainly is making some buyers consider waiting, and for sellers who will need a mortgage to get into a new home, they don't want to trade a 3% rate for double that.In May, median sales prices dropped by 2%, for the first time in a long time. Inventory is starting to rise, so perhaps a Summer upswing will come.