"For years, the Greater Boston real estate market has been defined by a stubborn stalemate that goes beyond the usual supply-demand imbalance of housing inventory. Buyers waited for pandemic-era low interest rates to return, while sellers clung to their golden handcuffs: sub-3 percent mortgages they refused to trade for the 6 ( and even 7) percent reality of recent memory. But as we head into 2026, the ice is finally ready to crack, experts said."
""I think 2025 was the year of transition," said Ricardo Rodriguez of Coldwell Banker in reference to the political and economic environment, as well as the dust settling around new rules over real estate agent commissions. "What we have is just a new landscape of not only how the business operates, but how the market itself operates. It's just the new normal.""
Greater Boston's housing market has shifted from a prolonged stalemate to renewed activity as sellers begin listing and buyers place bids. Pandemic-era low mortgage rates no longer anchor seller behavior, and many homeowners with sub-3 percent loans reluctantly face higher current rates in the 6-to-7 percent range. The market moved through a 2025 transition shaped by political, economic, and commission-rule changes and is entering a new normal. Life events such as marriages and growing families are prompting transactions. Persistent inventory scarcity continues, and starter-home availability has markedly deteriorated since 2015.
Read at Boston.com
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