It's the start of a new month, and that means that Curbed Boston's Neighborhood Watch is in full effect. Third up (Back Bay and Charlestown were first and second), an in-depth look at the recent real estate trends in Beacon Hill. (All statistics, unless otherwise cited, courtesy of Trulia.)
Average Listing Price
The average listing price for Beacon Hill homes on the market finished October a little lower than it started the month (it was around $1.78 million then). Still, the $1,763,069 was crazy ahead of Boston's overall average of $786,596, once again delineating the neighborhood as perhaps the city's most coveted.
Sales Prices
This is the bad news: The median Beacon Hill sales price was down 17.2 percent in September to $462,500! That places it well below the median for Boston ($510,000). The average sales price per square foot for the neighborhood was up 1 percent annually, though, to $703, higher than the city average of $654. Make of this what you will (and please remember that median and average measure two different things; and that the median is probably the better measure as one or two big sales can skew the average).
Sales
The number of neighborhood home sales remained basically unchanged from the same period in 2010; and, per the nifty graph above, it appears that as goes Beacon Hill so goes Boston.
Prognosis
We're tempted to say things will be swell this fall and winter in Beacon Hill because it's, well, Beacon Hill—along with Back Bay probably the city's most desirable neighborhood—but the gulf between the average asking price and the median taking, even while taking into account the difference in mode of measurement, shows that reality may soon overtake perception. Sales prices could drop further.
· Charlestown Sales Jump As Prices Hold Ever So Steady [Curbed Boston]
· Back Bay Prices, Sales Up; Tom Brady Not Hurting Things [Curbed Boston]
· Our Beacon Hill archive [Curbed Boston]