Buyers
get choosy...
...when the selling gets tough
By Melanie Nayer, Globe
Correspondent | November 6, 2005
Robert and Juliet Pyles recently bought their first home
in East Boston. The three-family house was on the market
for $570,000, but they paid $540,000, a sure sign for them
that the Boston real estate market has shifted to favor
buyers.
''I feel confident that I can make an offer at a lower
price -- considerably lower -- than what the seller is asking,"
Robert Pyles said. And so the couple is hunting for another
piece of property.
''We don't mind taking the risk [on purchasing two homes]
right now," said Pyles. ''We're seeing places on the
market longer, and we're able to talk the seller way down
in price."
Brokers from the North Shore to the North End are advising
buyers to take advantage of accumulating inventory and dropping
prices, as the once-robust real estate market continues
to slow.
Sales of single-family homes in the second quarter dropped
5.2 percent from a year ago, according to the Massachusetts
Association of Realtors, and, as The Boston Globe reported
last week, the number of condominiums listed for sale in
Boston is up 50 percent from a year ago, while the number
of price cuts has more than doubled, according to Listing
Information Service Inc., which tracks the Boston condo
market.
Joe Pucillo, ZipRealty's Boston district director, said
more sellers are compromising on prices to sell before the
holidays arrive and winter sets in, because sellers will
not want to pay higher heating costs and mortgages during
the holiday season.
''You might need to settle a little bit," he said,
''but you'll get a good deal."
Linda Hayes Power, a buyer’s agent for Carlson/GMAC
Real Estate in Marblehead, said properties in her area have
stopped selling above asking or at asking price. She said
the increased inventory, especially of single-family homes,
gives the buyer a clear negotiation advantage.
Still, Power advised buyers to be mindful that if they
bid too low, they may lose the house. Sellers typically
have a lowest offer in mind and won't bend beyond that.
Another twist: Fewer buyers are seeking $1 million-plus
properties, Pucillo said, preferring convenience over extravagance.
''People aren't buying houses for status right now: They
are buying houses for purpose," he said. ''It's not
about how big your home on the North Shore is anymore. It's
about [not] having to commute to the city in rush hour."
Optimistic industry experts predict that when spring comes
around, prices will start to favor sellers again.
''My recommendation is to buy now. Next year you have no
idea what's going happen," Pucillo said. ''What goes
down, must go up -- you know it's going to happen, so buy
now while you can."
© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.
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