Experts Weigh In On Boston 2020 Housing Market
BOSTON (CBS) -- The new year brings a new housing market that experts are keeping a close eye on.
"I think 2020 will still be a solid market. We should remember it's also an election year, so economically I would think the political powers that be would want to keep it on a fairly even keel," said Greg Vasil, CEO of The Greater Boston Real Estate Board.
Vasil said that in 2019, people paid more for homes because there weren't that many homes for sale.
"People are paying more, although less transactions are actually occurring in the market place," Vasil said.
According to the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, single-family home sales around greater Boston in 2019 dropped 4.4% compared to 2018. Condo sales dropped 5.3% for the same time period.
Vasil said buyers are now going even further west of Boston.
"It used to be to you went out to 128, then 495, and I think you're starting to see that expand even further into other parts of the state," Vasil said.
Realtors are encouraging people serious about buying this year to start looking right away.
"Yes the inventory is going to go up higher, however the amount of buyers coming out to look in the spring is just so significantly higher than now," said realtor Adriana Scholz.
Scholtz said now is the time to put a house on the market if a resident is looking to sell, as inventory is low and the house could go quickly.
Michael Illobre, of Waltham, felt the pressure wholesale when he tried to buy a home. He looked at a dozen houses and even made offers on three of them.
"You're nervous if someone made a higher bid than you, did you make the right offer price," he said.
It took him two years to find the perfect one.
"When you get down in the thick of it, then you start to realize how people were not kidding this is a very stressful and arduous process," Illobre said.
