SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (WWLP) – The COVID-19 pandemic may have made the housing market “hot” with low interest rates, skyrocketing home sale prices, and inventory that couldn’t meet the demand, but new data shows that could be changing.

Latest reports from The Warren Group show that median sale price growth here in Massachusetts for both single-family homes and condos started to fall at year’s end.

22News spoke with a local realtor about what they’ve been seeing in western Massachusetts.

“Now the homes are not flying off the shelves quite as quick so I think it’s nice for buyers to have a moment to take a breath and process what’s going on and make a good decision,” said Steven Laplante of ERA M. Connie Laplante Real Estate in South Hadley.

According to some experts, the housing market is cooling and that’s because of inflation, a possible recession; which could lead to job loss, and the federal reserve raising interest rates.

In December, there were just over 3,800 single family home sales in the Commonwealth, down by 31%, and a number not seen in an decade, according to the Warren Group. And while the median sale price increased around 2%, the report indicates that year-over-year increases have been shrinking the past three months.

“What happened to real estate during COVID was not going to last forever… it was an anomaly, now we are just shifting to a normal market,” Laplante explained. He added that because there is still low inventory of homes, houses are selling quickly but just not at the rate it was during the pandemic.

Here in Hampden County, the Warren Group reports that there has been a 30% decrease in the number of home sales in December compared to to 2021.