Massachusetts residential real estate sales up in April

Massachusetts single-family real estate sales saw an 18 percent increase from the same month last year, which means there has been nine straight months of steady increases. And there is still more good news, according to the MLS Property Information Network, the median price of a home also increased for the first time in the last 11 months. These increases could be telling us the residential real estate market has bottomed out and we can expect the Massachusetts housing market to stabilize in the coming months.

The number of single family homes sold in Massachusetts last month was 3,129, compared to 2,642 in April of 2011. The median price for a single family home rose to $280,000 or a 1.4 percent increase from $276,000 in the same time period. An economist from Northeastern University said that these numbers reflect that people are not expecting prices to continue to fall and the interest rates are still quite attractive to many since they are likely to be the lowest we’ll see in our lifetime.

If your family is looking to purchase a home, now might be the perfect time to start looking for a good bargain while prices are still competitive and demand slowly starts to increase. There are a number of avenues to consider when looking for just the right deal. For example, short sales and foreclosure auctions are options that not were not even on people’s radar just a few short years ago.

Since the week-ending May 10 saw the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fall to yet another record low of 3.83 percent, down from 3.98 in early April, now just might be the right time to buy that dream home. Today’s real estate market and financing programs can be a bit tricky, so it could be beneficial to consult with a residential real estate attorney in your area to help you navigate various strategies for finding and financing your new home.

Source: Boston Business Journal, “Bay State home sales rise again,” Thomas Grillo, May 18, 2012