Our neighbors sold their upstairs unit in 4 days.

[liveintheville]

So the big gossip in my building has been that the priciest unit went on the market. The owners are moving to Harvard, MA. We all bought in '05 at the height of the housing market. Well, they listed it for what they bought for at $699k. Listed on Friday, had open house that weekend, and offer on Tuesday. They sold for $692k! Just $7k under asking. We're not thinking of moving but it's great news. Our concern has always been that we all bought high for the area, considering they're condos. Good to see we can still unload them. So much for don't buy the nicest place on the street

[fuddyduddy]

Wow, that's awesome! Like you said, it bodes well for you, even if you don't intend to move soon.

[devonpow]

We are in brookline and the market is INSANE. We are in a 2 family, and our downstairs neighbors just sold their place in less than a week for $61K over asking - and it was priced high. (Ours is worth more than theirs so this makes us happy, lol) people are doing all cash, waving inspections.....It's crazy!

We really want to sell to take advantage (plus we want a 4 bedroom now) but there is nowhere to move to, inventory is so low and the demand is so intense. Plus there is a big mess with the schools and potential redistricting now, so we have to sit tight. Boooo....

[bostonmichelle]

That's awesome news. I've had clients looking for condos and multifamilies in Somerville/Cambridge and this market is ridiculous. The market isn't much better north of the city either, stuff is going within a week if priced correctly. My town only has 13 properties on the market at basically any given time, we have about 2000 households but still the percentage that come on and stay on for more than a week are ridiculous.

ETA: I'm very thankful I went with my gut last year and bought a house even though everyone told me I was stupid and the market was going to go down still.

[vtdiamond]

Wow that's awesome for you guys!

[rikki]

Jun 20, 2013 6:57:58 GMT -5 bostonmichelle said:

That's awesome news. I've had clients looking for condos and multifamilies in Somerville/Cambridge and this market is ridiculous. The market isn't much better north of the city either, stuff is going within a week if priced correctly. My town only has 13 properties on the market at basically any given time, we have about 2000 households but still the percentage that come on and stay on for more than a week are ridiculous.

ETA: I'm very thankful I went with my gut last year and bought a house even though everyone told me I was stupid and the market was going to go down still.

Do you know anything about the market south of the city?  We keep going back and forth on selling and moving.

[liveintheville]

Jun 20, 2013 7:44:12 GMT -5 rikki said:

Jun 20, 2013 6:57:58 GMT -5 bostonmichelle said:

That's awesome news. I've had clients looking for condos and multifamilies in Somerville/Cambridge and this market is ridiculous. The market isn't much better north of the city either, stuff is going within a week if priced correctly. My town only has 13 properties on the market at basically any given time, we have about 2000 households but still the percentage that come on and stay on for more than a week are ridiculous.

ETA: I'm very thankful I went with my gut last year and bought a house even though everyone told me I was stupid and the market was going to go down still.

Do you know anything about the market south of the city?  We keep going back and forth on selling and moving.

The answer is yes you should sell and move closer to the city 

[drloretta]

That's awesome.

When we were thinking of moving last week, DH was very down on the potential to sell this house and break even. I think he's high. Actually he's traumatized by the bath we took on the last house, but that area has been hit WAY harder than here.

[liveintheville]

Jun 20, 2013 9:38:10 GMT -5 drloretta said:

That's awesome.

When we were thinking of moving last week, DH was very down on the potential to sell this house and break even. I think he's high. Actually he's traumatized by the bath we took on the last house, but that area has been hit WAY harder than here.

Yeah, it's definitely worth looking into. I have to say I'm shocked they sold so quickly. It's on the high side for our zipcode. In the Davis Sq area there would be no problem. But if it can sell in Union then the market is up!

[drloretta]

You and I know that, it's just convincing the Eternal Pessimist that is my husband. He sees the few homes that are priced on the low side and freaks out. I see the homes that are more in line with what we could get, and just shake my head at him. We "lost" $95K on the last house (actually broke even with the relo) so he's really shell shocked. Poor husband. Right now I just want to refi before the rates start going up again.

[lizlemon19]

I am in central Ma, And there us ton of inventory. Sadly our housing area has not recovered, and our house has dropped over 50% from purchase price .

[bostonmichelle]

rikki - I have no idea the market it south of the City but I would guess it is similar to the market North of the city. I think distance to Boston is key at the moment. I've lived down in Mansfield/Foxboro before and the rental market was similar to North of the city when I relocated to the North Shore, so one would think houses would fall in similar paths.

@drloreeta - Many homes are being priced below what the owner is going to take for an offer to spark a feeding frenzy at the moment. I wouldn't look at the list price but what sold in the last 3 months to get an accurate idea of what the house is worth. I'm seeing homes go for close to $100k over asking in some areas, these are general 2-3 families in Somerville/Cambridge/Medford. But I'm still seeing even $10-20k over asking on single families and condos north of the city.

[drloretta]

Good point bostonmichelle. I'll remind DH of that next time we have this discussion.

And now to call about refinancing.

[noodleoo]

I'd love to figure out what our house is worth now. We love it and wouldn't sell, but it would make me happy. The market is nuts. Is it sustainable or just a temporary bubble as all the buyers who have been waiting jump back in?

[bostonmichelle]

noodleoo - In my opinion based on nothing but my gut-feeling its a temporary bubble. I think we will see an increase in inventory again this fall and next spring and that will be it. I don't think prices will rise another 10% like they seem to since last year going forward. I think there was a lot of people holding last year to see on the presidential election before they sold or bought into the market. So there is a pent-up demand of people wanting to buy and wanting to sell and it all just came about this year. I think we will see a couple percent increase in the next year, maybe as much as 5% but not another 10% that we saw since last spring. Then I think we will settle into a normal 2-3% increase in prices and a stable market. I could be completely wrong as well.

I see this type of mass selling/buying in alot of other industries as I am also a CPA (in addition to a real estate sales agent), our general contractors, fence guys, electricians, masons are having great years because people finally have some confidence we won't slide back and are replacing things and putting money into projects instead of just patching issues as they come along. Again I don't think going forward it will be the way it was right before the housing crash but it seems we have turned the corner.

[LoveTrains]

It is crazy on the rentals! I can't believe how much interest we are getting in renting out our condo.