An ongoing issue across the nation is a lack of housing inventory. Active buyers are looking, and they’re putting in offers, but there just aren’t enough houses on the market to satisfy the demand.

For example, in Massachusetts (not just the Boston area but the entire state) there are currently 10,600 listings available. Those are single family homes and condominiums only. In the past week alone, 1,701 properties went under agreement and another 2,444 were marked “contingent,” meaning that the seller has an accepted offer.

In short: There are far more buyers than there are sellers right now.

Because of this, prices are NOT dropping as many expected they would.

Instead, in both the Boston area and the Bay Area, we are seeing multiple offers on pretty much every property, with the listing going for above-asking price or without contingencies.

If you are an active buyer, our advice is:

• Don’t assume that properties will be selling at or under asking price. Just because you aren’t seeing many other buyers (like you normally would at an open house or back-to-back showings) does not mean that they aren’t there. Trust that your real estate agent has the most up-to-date information on the property (and if they don’t, ask!)
• Look at properties slightly below your budget so that you have wiggle room to bid up. If you can afford $700,000 and put in an offer on a house that is $699,900, you don’t have much room at all to negotiate. If, however, you put in an offer on a house that is $575,000, you have much more room for negotiation, especially if you fall in love with the house.
• Don’t wait! If you see a property pop up as “NEW” on the market, get in touch with your Torii agent as soon as possible. In many cases we are able to facilitate a virtual tour, should you not want to go in person just yet.

Video updates from Torii Brokers

San Francisco Bay Area real estate market update May 27, 2020

Greater Boston real estate market update May 27, 2020

As always, if you have any questions about the current market climate, feel free to email us! info@torii.properties