Even during dark times, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. In the case of the Boston real estate market, the strong fundamentals are that light. In fact, Boston was named the most resilient US City by Unison, as reported by Housing Wire. A city’s resiliency correlates to how its housing market has fared during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cities with higher job concentrations in industries where workers can do their jobs from homes are more resilient and thus have stronger housing markets. Boston’s strong financial services, education, healthcare, biotech, and technology industries all contributed to making the city able to withstand the pandemic.
Boston was also recognized as the most recovered out of the 50 largest metro real estate markets. What helped Boston make that rating?
- Rising prices
- Pace of sales comparable to 2019
- High and growing active buyers
- Low mortgage rates
- Resilient tech sector
And it’s true, buyers in the Boston market certainly haven’t gone anywhere. In April, a period of true uncertainty during this pandemic, sale prices of condos were up 8.6% year over year. The inventory shortage is prompting more bidding wars, and that gets prices rising.
In the face of much press about the great escape from cities, evidence suggests people aren’t leaving entirely, at least not in Boston. One trend our brokers picked up on was that Boston homeowners may have started looking for places outside the city, but they weren’t looking to leave city life entirely, suggesting some optimism about a local recovery. Instead, these buyers were searching for a second home that offered more space and privacy but kept them within easy driving distance of downtown.
The luxury segment, specifically, has shown great strength during the height of the COVID-19 crisis. Boston.com reports that sales of $1MM+ homes in the urban core were up 217% from March 23, the beginning of the stay-at-home order, through June 26.
Indeed, with the pandemic and the preponderance of people working from home, home-schooling children, and the like, “people are re-thinking the value of home, at all levels of the market”, says Amy Donovan, our real estate agent specializing in Boston.
When you’re ready to make the move into Boston or make an upgrade in town, contact Amy Donovan for more information on what’s happening currently and available listings.
