Bidding wars for many homes in Massachusetts are resulting in properties being sold for tens of thousands of dollars above their listing price.

The latest data from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors show the median selling price of a single-family home in March was $485,000. Condos hit a record high of $459,000.

For a closer look at the market, WBUR's Deborah Becker was joined by Steve Medeiros, president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtor

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“Bidding wars for many homes in Massachusetts are resulting in properties being sold for 10s of 1000s of dollars above their listing price. The latest data from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors show the median selling price of a single family home in March was $485,000. Condos hit a record high of $459,000. To talk about the market. We're joined now by Steve Medeiros. He's president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. Good morning, Steve. “

“Good morning.”

“So how prevalent are bidding wars for properties right now.”

“So bidding wars are happening in many situations, it's, it's not a guarantee that every house is going to have a bidding war. But if the property is priced properly, and it's in good condition, and there's enough buyers out there, you will often see multiple offers on a property, because there is a lack of inventory right now.”

“So what is that causing buyers to do the lack of supply? I mean, are you what advice do you give to buyers?”

“The key thing is evaluating what's right for you. You know, for every buyer, we tell them they need to consult with their realtor and have a conversation and determine what they think that property is worth and what their maximum offer could be. And then let you know, let it see what happens. I mean, if they do miss out and they don't get the property, well, then they have to be patient. And we'll look at the next one.”

“We've heard a lot about suburbs versus cities and real estate, you know how that's changed, particularly because of the pandemic? And I guess I wonder, you know, what you think is is going to happen in the future? And how you describe what's happening now? are more people more interested in the suburbs? Because so many more people are working from home? And is that sustainable?”

“So as far as what the future holds, I don't know, you know, In just talking with people, this past weekend, everyone's looking to get out and do things. So I personally feel like we'll get back to where we were somewhat, you will see some people who are able to do the work from home thing as a consistent thing going forward. What we have seen over the past year, is that, you know, a lot of people have picked up, you know, vacation homes, like a lot of the communities that we saw the biggest jump were the Berkshires, the cape in the islands. That doesn't mean people aren't getting rid of the places in the city. It's actually, you know, I'm on a call once a month with all of our local presidents from around the state of Massachusetts for the local realtor associations. And and speaking with the president of the Boston Association, he said they haven't seen that mass exodus that people have talked about seeing in other cities like San Francisco.”

“Do you think the market needs to stabilize a bit if there are people who are hearing about you know, prices going up and bidding wars and they want to just sit tight for a while.”

“You know, unfortunately, I don't have a crystal ball to tell you that there are people that told me back in May they were going to wait for the market to drop because they thought it was going to drop after we get into the shutdown and COVID happening and and the market did the opposite. So sometimes you have to go with what's right for your situation at a particular time. And you know, when you try to time the market, you know, most people in the market are fortunate. They're not usually timing because they know anything to do they just hit it at the right time. So I think it's about again, don't get caught up in all the hype or all the what everyone else is doing. Stick to your plan, and you'll be okay.”

“Steve Medeiros president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors thanks for speaking with wb wires, Morning Edition.”

“Happy to help”