Real Estate - Sherry Stallings

🚨 “The housing market is crashing.” It’s probably the statement I’ve heard more than any other over the past decade. And if I had a dollar for every time someone said it to me...I’d be answering your messages from a villa in Greece. 🇬🇷 🙌🏼The National Association of REALTORS® released its June housing report, and I’m not surprised by what the numbers showed. 🏡 The national median home price reached an all-time high of $440,600.💪🏼 Even more impressive? Home prices have now increased year over year for 36 consecutive months. That’s through higher interest rates, economic uncertainty, and every scary headline you can imagine. But here’s what I found even more interesting... Affordability has actually improved compared to a year ago. Mortgage rates averaged 6.49% in June, down from 6.82% a year ago, and wages have been growing faster than home prices. That means many buyers actually have more purchasing power today than they did just 12 months ago. Another encouraging sign? First-time buyers accounted for 33% of all June home sales, up from 30% last year. They’re not sitting on the sidelines, they’re getting into the market. We’re also seeing pending home sales increase 6.3% year over year, the strongest reading we’ve seen all year. Buyers are still out there...they’re simply being more thoughtful and intentional. 📍 Here in Massachusetts, we’re seeing much of the same. Home values remain strong, median prices continue to hover near record highs, and while homes are taking a little longer to sell than they were during the frenzy a few years ago, well-priced homes in desirable locations are still attracting serious buyers. They’ve simply become more selective and slower to pull the trigger. 💡That’s not a crashing market. That’s a healthier, more balanced one. 💥Don’t let national headlines make your real estate decisions for you. Real estate has always been, and always will be, hyper-local.🌎📍 If you’re wondering whether now is the right time to buy or sell, let’s look at what’s happening right here in your town and build a strategy around your goals-not someone else’s headlines.📲

I wasn’t sure I’d ever get the chance to tell this story.🥺 This one was truly a family affair. ❤️ My cousins had been casually looking for years. Nothing really excited them... until they walked into 248 Elm Street. Everything changed. In a competitive market, we took a strategic approach and got their offer accepted with a home sale contingency. Then came the race to get their condo ready.😬 Mother Nature must have known what was ahead, because our very first open house was met with a snowstorm... at the end of May. ❄️ Somehow, we still received an offer. Then it fell apart. So we regrouped, held a second open house... and this time we had tornado warnings. 🌪️ Because apparently New England wasn’t finished with us yet. We received more offers... and those fell apart too. None of it was because of the condo or anything my cousins had done. Meanwhile, we were doing everything we could to keep the sellers of their future home hanging in there while we searched for a solution.🙏 Finally, what felt like our Hail Mary arrived in the form of a cash buyer. But the adventure still wasn’t over. We worked through buyer concerns, insurance hiccups, last-minute moving challenges, and more curveballs than I can count. Through patience, trust, constant communication, and everyone refusing to give up, we somehow kept both transactions together. The best part? After everything we went through, we made it to the closing table only one week later than the date we were originally working toward.🎉 Watching my cousins get the keys to a home they’ve dreamed about for so long was incredibly special. This closing was about perseverance, faith, teamwork, and never giving up when the finish line keeps moving.💪🏼 Congratulations & Welcome Home. ❤️🏡 Many thanks to @kristenmsmithphotography @traceytheattorney @jackconnormortgage @touchstoneclosing @mbamortgageteam @adelaney72 @qhiservices And last, but certainly not least, my incredible cobroke, Tom Bergeron. Thank you all! 🙏🙌🏼💗 #profoundhometeam #homesweethome #whoyoumovewithmatters #soldbysherry