[ad_1]
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – President of Berkshire Real Estate Steve Ray is predicting a tough real estate market in 2023 due to an issue of supply and demand.
“The lack of activity, the lack of inventory is really slow,” Ray said. “The real estate market down the last couple of years here and we expect it not to be much different in ’23.”
What You Need To Know
- Home prices are beginning to slowly decline
- The president of Berkshire Real Estate said the county and state are under-built, so while inventory numbers are go down, the median price for homes has been clicking up
- Steve Ray said people are seeing the 3-4% mortgages they had five years ago being more like 6% today, which is keeping people apprehensive about making a move
- Berkshire Real Estate is seeing some more choices in the upper range of pricing, upwards of $500,000, but still seeing a shortage in the $200,000 to $300,000 range they say many average and first-time home buyers look for
Ray is a local broker who has 30 years of experience and said market data shows the number of houses for sale is down 19% in Berkshire County from 2021. He added the inventory has been trending downward for the last three years. Ray said the trend is because it’s hard to find available properties these days.
“Nobody’s moving anymore,” Ray said. “And certainly, in the Berkshires, they’re not moving to any scale that’s going to free up inventory. New homes are nonexistent.”
Ray said rising mortgage rates are part of what is keeping people apprehensive about moving. In his message to sellers, Ray said there’s plenty of people looking to buy, but those buyers are now a little more knowledgeable and confident.
“During the pandemic, we saw numbers go up over 100% of the asking price,” Ray said. “People were paying more for the same house, getting in bidding wars. Statistics now show that this past year they sold at 73% of the asking price. Buyers are getting a little more savvy.
“I think ‘23, the sellers have to be more realistic about their pricing. We’re still going to be able to sell a house for more money than we did three to five years ago, but it won’t be maybe the numbers they saw in 2021 or saw what their neighbors’ homes sold for.”
While Ray believes sellers will still be able to sell their houses very quickly in 2023, he thinks the number of available homes will remain tight and said it’s going to be another tough market for buyers this year.
[ad_2]
Source link
