Mayor Marty Walsh said Monday that after months of working with the City Council, he signed a home rule petition that would give Boston the ability to implement a transfer fee of up to two percent on the purchase price of any private real estate sale over $2 million. Read the US News Report here.

If approved, the cost of the fee would be split between the purchaser and seller. The funding generated would go to the Neighborhood Housing Trust Fund or would be appropriated through the annual budget process to support the creation and preservation of affordable housing in the city.

Currently Sellers pay for a mandatory real estate tax stamps at the rate of $4.56 per thousand for all Massachusetts sales with a few counties charging more.

My estimations show that in 2019 with 80,000+ sales in MA this year (not including auction or non-mls) with a volume of $41,581,812,351…Wouldn’t that be $189 million paid in tax stamps in 2019? Where does that money go?

Massachusetts Market Update Brought to you by the North Shore Association of Realtors®

Property Transfers in Ipswich, MA 1/1/19-5/8/19

Single Family Sales – Ipswich MA

Address                                                           Bdrms,  Full Bath, Half Bath  List Price         Sale price

52           Bunker Hill Rd                                    3              1              0              595000.00            [...]

This just may be one of the best quotes I've read in my 33 years of being in real estate... “Just because you know a realtor doesn’t mean they’ll do the right job for you,’’ Presti said. “They may not be working full time in the business or have the right experience for selling the type of property you want to sell or they may not be [...]

New Short-Term Rental Laws in Massachusetts Q&A

Massachusetts adopted a new law taxing and regulating the short-term rental market. The following information should help Realtors® navigate the short-term rental market under these new laws and regulations. For additional information, see the Department of Revenue's FAQ page.  

What does this new law [...]

"The Fed had been raising interest rates slowly for two years, but the strong numbers suggested it might keep doing so — and at a faster rate than before. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell added to those fears in October with comments suggesting more hikes were [...]