Real estate experts see Boston market cooling off, as interest rates go up again

The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates again on Wednesday. That would likely push mortgage rates even higher, at a moment when they are already above 7% for the first time in two decades.

The hike in rates is already cooling off the Massachusetts real estate market. Data from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors show the number of single-family homes sold in the state in September fell more than 15% from the year before.

However, real estate agent Livia Monteforte, with Compass Real Estate on Cape Cod, said she believes the cooling of the market will lead to less "irrational" behavior from buyers, such as buying homes sight-unseen, or without inspections.

"The home inspections are coming back, the financing contingencies are coming back," Monteforte said. "The negotiations over price — that's coming back."

She tells her clients looking to buy that despite all this, if they find a home they want, they should not let higher interest rates prevent them from buying.

"If you're waiting for the rates to come down, so is everyone else," Monteforte said. "So you're going to sit and wait with a pool of people that are going to jump back in at the same time as you."

She added that there is good news for sellers as well: despite the higher rates, there remains a historically low number of homes for sale in the state. Monteforte tells her clients who are selling homes they need to focus on staging their property and pricing it competitively.