Home sales decline over 20%, prices still rising in Pioneer Valley

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – Home sales are down, but prices are still on the rise.

Home sales were down more than 20 percent from October of last year to this year, and on top of this, prices are still on the rise as people are not selling their homes.

Some residents are trying to avoid higher interest rates but Cheryl Malandrinos from Realtor Association of the Pioneer Valley says the rates are not bad as they were in the past, “Interest rates for a mortgage were 15 percent so I think what we are seeing is the reality that prices have continued to rise and interest rates rose to more normal levels than we have seen previously.”

And to bring up home sales, Todd Friedhaber, a housing counselor from Cambridge Credit Counseling Corporation says people would need to sell their homes, “If you have a realtor willing to list your home in a competitive rate, this is a really good time to sell because the inventory is still low.”

Inventory of available single family homes in the pioneer valley is down more than 32 percent from 902 homes for sale to 608 this October. Home sales are down about 30 percent in Franklin County, more than 16 percent in Hampden County and nearly 40 percent in Hampshire County.

But Bryan Kaye with Bkaye Realty says as we head into the holiday season, he has seen a slow down in the price increases for homes in the area, “I am starting to see a little slow down in these price increases. I’m starting to see more houses sitting on the market, we have been seeing houses sell in days to weeks.”

Kaye says as of today, there are 50 houses in the city of Springfield alone that have been on the market for thirty days or more, which he says shows some sign of a slow down.

If you’re a buyer, he says hang in there and keep looking. For sellers, Kaye says if the time is right, take advantage of getting your dream house from now, as prices may change if the rates go down.