Spring Fever Hits Boston Brokers

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

Impatient investors looking for new opportunities might want to look at office properties in the Greater Boston area. It ranked third-best in a recent U.S. office report. More deals and increased rents and occupancy rates are likely to follow as a result of the 24,000 office-using jobs expected to hit Boston this year.

According to a recent report by Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, Boston and its surrounding suburbs constitute the United States’ third-best area to own and invest in office properties, following New York City and Washington, D.C. The entire Boston area improved from 2010, when it ranked fifth in Marcus & Millichap’s annual office property report.

Things are looking up for the single family market in the Boston area. More prospective homeowners may also transact deals this spring, taking advantage of good deals before the perfect buyer’s market ceases. According to economist David Semmens, buyers need to be confident that the house they intend to buy is genuinely inexpensive.

Prospective homeowners in the Boston area appear motivated by the prospects of an improved economy. Besides that, the fear that interest rates are very likely to increase is encouraging them to start browsing the listings and look for open houses. According to Gary Dwyer, the owner of Buyer Agents of Boston, the Greater Boston area tends to become seriously competitive, with low-priced properties sold very quickly.

Sellers are advised to avoid becoming overly confident if their properties receive multiple bids, especially during the spring, when the demand for homes is increasing.

The biggest challenge right now seems to be the lack of attractive, well-priced homes for sale. According to the Massachusetts Realtors Group, the inventory of single-family homes on the market decreased by 3 percent in February 2011 compared to the same month last year. For condominiums, the situation is even worse: The inventory fell 11 percent in February 2011 compared to the same month in 2010.