At this point in the pandemic real estate cycle, nearly everyone has heard stories of homes selling for outlandish figures, far above asking price. But how many of those sales are there, actually? Turns out, not that many, at least in Greater Boston.

The average percentage of list price sellers received each month has been above 100 percent since March for single-family listings and since May for condominiums according to Greater Boston Association of Realtors data, indicating fairly widespread multiple-offer situations. And discount brokerage Redfin reported that just shy of 80 percent of the offers its Greater Boston agents wrote in April faced at least one competing offer. While that number has declined steadily, from 78.4 percent in May to 73.2 percent in June and 63.9 percent in July, that’s still above the 18.7 percent of offers that faced competition in Boston in July 2019.

Amid all this action, only 1 percent of all Greater Boston homes sold for more than 30 percent above list price in the second quarter of this year, compared to 0.7 percent in the first quarter, Zillow reported earlier this week.

At the highest end, only 21 homes sold for more than $500,000 over list price in the second quarter of this year, compared to 13 in the second quarter of 2019. Only three homes sold for $1 million or more over list price in the second quarter of this year.

As many are asking: Will the frenzied spring market continue this fall? Experts point to conflicting signs – continued low interest rates but a rising number of new listings and overall buyer fatigue – but by at least one measure, July’s housing market wasn’t quite a hot. While the percentage of list price sellers received in Greater Boston nearly hit 107 percent in June, it inched down to 105.6 percent in July, indicating the frenzy may have cooled slightly as the spring market closed.

How Many Homes Sell for Far Over Asking?

by James Sanna time to read: 1 min
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