Experts Weigh In on Post-COVID Housing Market

Despite the obvious slow down in real estate market, experts are quite optimistic that the real estate market will pick right back up once COVID-19 resolves, especially in a market like Boston. With an already limited housing supply, experts also don’t expect a big dip in housing prices either. “Once the economy can return to normal, and people can get back to normal, I think the fundamental shortage of homes will still be there. That’s why I don’t see much prospect for prices to fall very far as a consequence of this,” said Jeff Tucker, a Zillow economist.

In the meantime, real estate agents are getting creative with virtual tours and other ways of “showing” properties with prospective buyers and tenants and the City of Boston has created a fund to help tenants pay rent. For more details about the current and future housing market, click here.

Will Boston Follow New York's Lead and Ban Broker Fees?

There was big news coming out of the New York real estate market this week - the New York Department of State clarified a previous regulation stating that brokers can no longer charge rental tenants a “broker fee” if they are hired by a landlord to market the rental unit. Instead, the landlord must cover the broker fee. The only case in which a broker fee applies to the tenant is if they personally hire an agent to help them find a rental apartment. The repercussions of such a shift in who will the broker could be manifold. Some suspect that landlords will just raise rent to cover this added expense for them. Others say this will have a positive effect on tenant’s ability to move because their expenses in doing so will be less.

Public Transportation and Real Estate Prices - Are They Linked?

It is no secret that cities across the country are facing transportation challenges as urban populations grow and Boston is no exception. According to a recent Boston.com article, “Governor Charlie Baker has proposed an $18 billion transportation bond bill that would help fund the T’s 13-year maintenance backlog, as well as expansion efforts.” This is just one effort among many to get Greater Boston’s public transportation to serve more people more efficiently and reliably so less people have to rely on driving in increasingly heavy commuter traffic.

So, what effect, if any, will Boston’s transportation difficulties have on the real estate market?

Boston's Housing Crisis Is Attracting Investors

Boston is facing a major housing crisis due to the lack of housing supply. Rents are on the rise not just in Boston, but in the suburbs around Boston as well and vacancy rates are around 3%. While it is a bad situation for renters in the area, investors from all around the country are looking to take advantage of the market by purchasing multifamily properties. To read more, click here.

Does Rent Control Work?

The thought of rent control often evokes strong emotional reactions regardless of whether you support or oppose it. Anyone who has ever rented a home can relate to the feeling of disappointment (or even frustration and anger) when you receive notification of an impending rent increase. Rent control is often discussed in politics as a social issue. But when you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, there are many economic consequences when rent control is implemented and/or ceased, many of which end up hurting the very people that rent control was intended to help. This Freakonomics episode discusses exactly why rent control does not work and we highly recommend you take a listen.

Is It a Good Idea to Invest in Rentals?

There is an interesting shift taking place in the real estate market as younger generations are unable to and less interested in buying homes compared to older generations. Take a quick read through this article to see why owning high-quality rentals is a good investment.

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