The Greater Boston housing market is facing a challenging reality, leaving potential buyers and sellers in a state of discomfort and uncertainty.
“Unless it magically gets way cheaper, we can’t really afford to buy here,” said Boylan, who is 30.
Such sentiments are echoed by many who find themselves grappling with the burgeoning housing crisis despite earning decent salaries.
The region’s housing market, known for its high costs, has reached a new level of stratification, making homeownership less accessible for even the seemingly affluent.
Spring, typically a bustling season for home buying due to favorable weather, has not ignited the housing market as expected this year.
Instead, the combination of soaring home prices and elevated interest rates has had a crippling effect, extending a three-year-long malaise during which sellers have refrained from listing their homes.
In February, only 750 single-family homes were listed for sale across Greater Boston, down 13 percent from the previous year and an alarming 34 percent from February 2020, according to the Greater Boston Association of Realtors.
Moreover, growing economic uncertainty is causing even more potential buyers and sellers to hesitate.
The slow gears of the housing market, which have been grinding since early 2022, appear to have come to a nearly complete halt.
This stalled market is leaving individuals like Boylan — along with countless others who may not fit the traditional wealth profile, such as tech workers — stuck in a state of limbo.
Historically, Greater Boston has experienced high housing costs, but the past decade has witnessed unprecedented price inflations.
Following a wave of population growth in the 2010s, the demand for housing surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, sending prices soaring and positioning the area among the most expensive in the nation.
Between 2015 and 2024, home values in Greater Boston surged nearly 50 percent, as reported by a key federal index.
During much of this period, interest rates remained at historical lows, making home buying relatively more attainable while keeping monthly payments manageable.
However, that scenario has dramatically changed in the past couple of years.
In February 2021, the median home price in the area was approximately $650,000, and the corresponding monthly mortgage payment sat around $2,100, according to Bankrate’s mortgage calculator.
Fast forward to four years later, and the median home price has jumped to $887,000, while interest rates have roughly doubled, skyrocketing the monthly payment to a staggering $4,700.
The situation worsened when, just last week, the rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage escalated to 7 percent, which is likely to increase that payment even further.
“What is staggering about what we’re seeing now is that it wasn’t by any stretch affordable to buy a home here before [interest rates rose],” stated Paul Willen, a senior economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
“Typically, when you see rates go up like they did, you expect home prices to drop a bit.
But it seems like no matter what happens, prices go up in Boston.”
This trend can be attributed to a persistent shortage of housing supply coupled with a demand that remains robust.
Even today, property viewings at open houses continue to draw crowds, according to Mary Gillach, principal of the Gillach Group at William Raveis in Brookline.
There’s still intense demand for the homes that do become available, particularly high-end properties in affluent suburbs such as Newton, where wealthier buyers are less sensitive to economic headwinds.
For the majority of prospective buyers, however, the current housing landscape is proving challenging and often untenable.
Melvin Vieira Jr., an agent at the Re/Max Real Estate Group in Jamaica Plain, highlights the situation: rising interest rates have dissuaded many homeowners from selling.
Many current homeowners are reluctant to give up their low-rate mortgages for a new one with higher rates, leading to low supply in the market.
Consequently, high prices and intense demand are sidelining potential buyers.
For many who can manage a large down payment and low monthly payments, it becomes feasible to buy in the current market.
However, the combination of exorbitant down payments and steep monthly costs pushes homeownership out of reach for most individuals.
Now, Vieira Jr. mentions he has clients who had been patiently waiting for interest rates to decline for three years but have recently opted to pull back from the home buying process due to economic volatility.
Investing in property is a significant decision, often considered the most considerable investment an individual will ever make.
Given the unpredictable nature of the economy, it’s understandable why so many prospective buyers are pausing their plans.
“I was here for 9/11, and while that was a national tragedy, it had a similar effect, where nobody wanted to make such a major decision because they didn’t know what was going to happen in their lives,” Gillach reflected.
“This massive uncertainty naturally leads to the thought of, ‘I don’t know if I want to commit to that house,’” she concluded.
The current gridlock in the housing market poses an intricate problem, with little clarity on when it might resolve itself.
Vieira Jr. notes that there are no indications that interest rates will decline or that housing prices in Greater Boston will stabilize or decrease.
With rising costs of building materials projected to further compound the problem, the outlook remains grim.
“We are looking for a little glimmer of hope, or for the door to be cracked open just a little bit,” Vieira Jr. stated.
“Usually, you can find that somewhere with prices or rates.
But honestly, the door is not cracked at all right now.”
image source from：https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/15/business/boston-housing-market-spring-prices/
