Is the Massachusetts Housing Market Thriving?
It’s part of the American dream to own a home, but it’s been difficult for some hopeful homebuyers due to the high-priced housing market. According to Reuters, the median existing…
It's part of the American dream to own a home, but it's been difficult for some hopeful homebuyers due to the high-priced housing market. According to Reuters, the median existing home price in the U.S. went up 6.0% from a year earlier to $404,400 in December of 2024. It also shot up 4.7% to a record high of $407,500 in 2024. So, buying a home has been getting costly, but this year, some projections are now turning to a bear forecast for the housing market, with prices falling.
A Wild Housing Market
According to Fast Company, "Zillow projects that U.S. home prices will fall 1.7% by March 2026." This is a large change from previous projections, too, because just last month, Zillow economists predicted prices would rise this year. Zillow's model also projects a softer housing market across the Sun Belt, bringing prices down in that area.
“The rise in [active] listings is fueling softer price growth, as greater supply provides more options and more bargaining power for buyers,” Zillow economists stated in March. “Potential buyers are opting to remain renters for longer as affordability challenges suppress demand for home purchases."
So, looking ahead to this year, some experts are predicting housing costs to finally decrease. But, let's look at the trends from last year.
There's a new study out from Visual Capitalist which looks at home price changes per state for last year. According to the study, U.S. housing prices went up 4.5% from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2024. As for methodology, Visual Capitalist states, "The Federal Housing Finance Agency measures average price changes in repeat sales or refinancings on the same properties. It's a broad measure of the shifts in single-family house prices."
Looking at Massachusetts, the state had a 5.8% increase in home prices, which is pretty much in the middle of all states. So, the market isn't thriving, but it's not low, either. The top state for housing prices rising was Connecticut, up 8.3%. Mississippi, the study says, was the only state to see a drop in home prices from 2023 to 2024. However, as mentioned above, experts think this trend is over for now, so those in the market for a home might want to start looking again.
