Fall 2024 Western Massachusetts Real Estate Update

I hope your October is going well and you are enjoying the beautiful foliage. I wanted to reach out with a few updates about our local real estate market.

You may have heard that rates have dropped. They are hovering around 6% (depending on credit scores). That change is bringing in new buyers as well as encouraging buyers that got frustrated or priced out to come back to their house hunt. 

Additionally, we are noticing a change in listing prices and activity. It is more crucial that you get the pricing in what is now the fair market value range. The days of pricing high and getting multiple offers is gone. We are still seeing fast sales and multiple offers on attractive and well priced properties, but the number of offers is down to two or three, usually.

Regarding listings again, we are seeing price reductions happen again, which hadn’t happened in a few years for the most part. This is another indicator that the crazy seller’s market has slowed down, but the majority of these price reductions are for homes that over priced in the first place.

For homes on the market, expect the days on the market to go up a bit, as well. For awhile if a house didn’t sell in the first week, it was strange. We are moving back to the time on market being a bit longer, but still lower than what it was pre-sales boom of 120 days or more.

The take away here, in my opinion, is that it is still a great time to make a move, you just need to have your expectations based in today’s reality.

As always, if you (or anyone you know) has a real estate question, I am always here to be your trusted resource. If you would like an updated valuation on your home, please don’t hesitate to ask. I am happy to do that for you, regardless of whether you are looking to sell right now or not.

Lesley Lambert, Western MA REALTOR with Park Square Realty 413-575-3611 or realestate.lesleylambert@gmail.com