Real estate market inventory in Boston suburbs (Needham, Acton: appointed, sales)

[relocate37]

My buyer's agent said that inventory has been low the past couple seasons. IIRC, I saw a bar chart, and inventory in 2013 and 2012 was definitely lower than in 2011.

Does that fit pretty well with a national trend? If not, what's behind it?

[charolastra00]

Eastern Mass did pretty well through the economic crash and we're seeing a bit of a startup boom now. Many companies are bringing high wage tech workers to the area, but there is little to no building happening to accommodate the growth because most of the Boston suburbs are already built up. Contrast that to places like Atlanta and Phoenix who had almost infinite amounts of space to build over the last 10 years but have half-empty subdivisions and townhouse developments scattered around. Meanwhile, here in Boston, there are not enough houses or apartments for everyone who wants one.

[cwaggy]

Inventory of single family homes is low and many potential buyers are waiting for new listings to come on this spring. There are plenty of apartments and condos for those willing to pay for them. Not sure what the ^ poster above is basing his opinion.

[MikePRU]

My understanding is that last Spring/Summer low inventory was a national trend. Around the rest of the country, some areas had lower inventory than recent years because banks had stopped flooding the market with foreclosed homes. Depending on where in MA you're looking that may be the case in that town as well, but if you're looking inside of or along RT 128 there wasn't a huge foreclosure market in those towns. For example, I remember a Boston Globe headline from a few years back saying "Foreclosures Increase 30% in Weston!" (or something along those lines) but if you read the article you'd see the foreclosure numbers went from 3 homes in one year to 4 homes the next. In these suburbs, I think it's more about increased demand than it is about lower inventory. For example, here in Needham the total number of closed sales for 2013 was only down about 2% from 2012. That actually only represents a difference of 336 vs 329 home sales. To me, that's not a huge difference in sales volume, but if someone were to track the number of buyers who didn't find a home in 2012 vs 2013 I would say unofficially that the 2013 number would be much higher.

Whether the inventory level has dropped or the number of buyers has increased, either way this makes for a serious imbalance in supply vs. demand. It's never a fun market for buyers or sellers when it's out of balance this much in either direction.

[kingeorge]

Many people bought expensive homes in this area that they have refinanced at rock bottom rates. Now prices are up, but so are the interest rates as well. I would guess that many are unwilling to part with low mortgage payments and trade-up where there will be on the hook for more. Some probably could not afford to trade up as well. If you are not in your home for a while, your equity is pretty low and selling and buying ain't cheap. I think it is a mix, some local some national trends. And, as always people do forget that there is huge demand for housing simply on account of all the students in the area. That is always something to keep in mind, although not in SF market as much.

[bushleague]

Acton held the highest upward trend for 2013, existing homes plus some new construction in the area. All of the schools are rated a '10', expect to pay around $700K for a new home with some land, and a tax bill of two months wages.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by bushleague

Acton held the highest upward trend for 2013, existing homes plus some new construction in the area. All of the schools are rated a '10', expect to pay around $700K for a new home with some land, and a tax bill of two months wages.

Acton schools are very good, but according to Great Schools (which is the ranking site I'm guessing you're referring to) only two out of five schools in town get a ten rating.

I was up in Acton last week actually. My son really loves that Children's Discovery Museum. It's a lovely town.

[mass100]

Yes inventory has been low for awhile. It is not fun when trying to sell your house and buy a new one. I have been trying to sell for the last few months and even with low inventory and four offers made none of the buyers have followed through with their offer. I am pretty desperate to sell and see an offer go through to closing. My hope is that things pick up in March in terms of available inventory as well as real buyers but I am not as optimistic as I was when I first listed.

[495neighbor]

Originally Posted by mass100

Yes inventory has been low for awhile. It is not fun when trying to sell your house and buy a new one. I have been trying to sell for the last few months and even with low inventory and four offers made none of the buyers have followed through with their offer. I am pretty desperate to sell and see an offer go through to closing. My hope is that things pick up in March in terms of available inventory as well as real buyers but I am not as optimistic as I was when I first listed.

This is the fixer up you bought correct? What happened with the buyers? Were they unable to get financing?

[mass100]

Originally Posted by 495neighbor

This is the fixer up you bought correct? What happened with the buyers? Were they unable to get financing?

My husband I have lived in this house for 6.5 years and listed in June, we currently are pending with our 5th offer and second realtor! Not a fixer upper [maybe that was someone else posting here?] We had buyers that could not get financing and others just got cold feet! It is very disappointing when you think you are going to move your family and then it does not go through. The inventory is really low so we have been making offers on houses that are getting other offers as well. We thought we were going to move in the summer, then the fall so disappointed is an understatement! We are thinking positive thoughts on this offer we have now!