Brokerage Otis & Ahearn is out with an analysis of housing stats for tonier downtown Boston neighborhoods like Beacon Hill, the North End, the South End, that other end (West) and Back Bay. The figures show, by and large, that the downtown condo market exited 2011 fairly strongly; and that, while it's not quite the prelapsarian days of 2007 and early 2008 all over again, it is in some ways (i.e., transaction volume and prices seem to have rebounded from the lows of 2009).
Transactions Absorption Average Median
2007 3,706 $2,284,296,470 $616,378 $459,500
2008 3,131 $2,250,410,638 $718,751 $470,000
2009 2,598 $1,537,521,929 $591,810 $441,000
2010 2,665 $1,785,705,754 $670,058 $470,000
2011 2,712 $1,793,172,920 $661,199 $468,500
One wonders if the numbers, especially transactions and absorption, will not rise further in the coming couple of years as the economy continues to pick up and as hundreds of new apartments hit the market, including those in the city's tallest condo tower. After all, it's pretty darn rare for things to get built in this town, especially new housing.
· Boston's Tallest Condo Tower O.K.'d Despite 'Occupy' [Curbed Boston]
· One Reason Why Boston Housing Is So Expensive [Curbed Boston]