Home prices in Greater Boston continued their ever-upward trajectory last month. The median-priced single-family house in the region sold for $930,000 in March, according to the Greater Boston Association of Realtors, up 3.3 percent from the same month last year.
So, yes, buying here is still hard. But there was also one positive glimmer: The number of homes on the market in March jumped significantly, perhaps an early indication that the region’s housing market may be stirring from a three-year-long malaise.
“It’s encouraging to see the inventory number rise... as we enter into the spring market as our eager buyer population has been patient throughout the winter,” said GBAR president Mark Triglione, the owner of Premier Realty Group, Inc. in Reading.
More than 1,300 single-family homes were newly listed for sale last month in GBAR’s coverage area, which includes most of Greater Boston except for the North and South shores, a 31 percent jump from March 2024. Overall inventory is up 35 percent.
Spring is typically the time of year when the housing market begins to kick into gear, so the spike in listings is not new. But for the last three years, the spring market has been significantly depressed.
Advertisement
Interest rates more than doubled in 2022, effectively grinding the housing market to a halt. Higher rates have created something of a stalemate in the market because they translate directly to increased monthly housing payments. Would-be sellers do not want to sell because they don’t want to give up a relatively low mortgage rate on their current place for a much higher one on a new place.
Advertisement
That has stifled buyers, too, because there are fewer homes to choose from, and the homes that are available come with both high price tags and high monthly payments.
Last week, the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.83 percent, according to Freddie Mac. That means the monthly payment on a house is still more than double what it was three years ago.
The question for brokers and economists over that period has been whether the market will start moving again even if rates don’t fall. Perhaps, some thought, buyers and sellers would eventually accept higher interest rates as a new reality, and the recent spike in listings may indicate that at least some sellers are jumping back in.
But not all signs are positive. The number of closed sales fell 14 percent from March 2024, according to GBAR.
Statewide, sales of single-family homes dipped roughly 4 percent, according to the Warren Group, a real estate analytics firm. Condominium sales fell by more than 14 percent in Greater Boston and 3 percent statewide.
And the pressures on the market aren’t going away. Prices keep climbing, shutting out more and more lower- and middle-class prospective buyers, a trend that shows no sign of relenting. Ongoing economic uncertainty over President Trump’s tariffs may be discouraging buyers, too.
“Given the current state of the federal government, it’s impossible to predict what interest rates will do, or whether inflation will continue to constrain the buying power of prospective homeowners,” said Cassidy Norton, The Warren Group’s associate publisher and media relations director.
Triglione is cautiously optimistic.
“Prospective buyers are still having to walk a tough road to successfully purchase a high-quality property,” he said. “But hopefully the influx of inventory will provide more balance to the market than there has been in recent years.”
Advertisement
Andrew Brinker can be reached at andrew.brinker@globe.com. Follow him @andrewnbrinker.