It's the start of a new month, and that means that Curbed Boston's Neighborhood Watch is in full effect. Sixth up (Back Bay, Charlestown, Beacon Hill, Bay Village and South Boston were covered earlier), an in-depth look at the recent real estate trends in the North End. (All statistics, unless otherwise cited, courtesy of Trulia.)
Average Listing Price
The North End's average dropped steadily throughout October, ending the month at $739,945, 3.5 percent down from where it started. That's a little south of Boston's overall average listing price of $786K.
Sales Prices
Here's where the news is truly bad barometer-wise. The median sales price for North End homes was down annually in September by 2.5 percent to $549,000. Indeed, as you can see by the graph above, it's been trending downward since May after a sharp drop in March. The average sales price per square foot—not as good a measure as one or two sales can gum up the whole operation—was up 7.4 percent annually in September to $653, about even with Boston overall (the median price was well above the city's).
Sales
Here's where our headline works: Home sales were down annually in the North End in September by 12.8 percent, basically reversing a summer-long rise.
Prognosis
It would be easy to press the panic button, so we will! The North End's pricing has been skittish over the last five years, jumping during 2010, oddly enough after the real estate boom was over (though perhaps due to the home-buyers tax credit expiring); then dropping precipitously; then rising slightly, only to drop again. We would point to the softening in the average listing price as positive evidence that perhaps the winter will see an evening out of things for the neighborhood price-wise.
· Charlestown Sales Jump As Prices Hold Ever So Steady [Curbed Boston]
· Back Bay Prices, Sales Up; Tom Brady Not Hurting Things [Curbed Boston]
· In Beacon Hill, Wide Gulf Between Askings and Takings [Curbed Boston]
· For Bay Village, Tiny Sales and Ginormous Price Moves [Curbed Boston]
· South Boston Home Sales Booming; Sellers Asking Less [Curbed Boston]
· Our North End archive [Curbed Boston]