Broker John Keith combed through condo stats for the first quarters of the past seven years in downtown Boston neighborhoods like Back Bay, Beacon Hill, the North End and the South End. What did he find? Sales were pretty steady from 2010 to this year, though they pale in volume to what was happening before the bust in 2008. Ditto days on the market: It took much less time to sell on average in 2005 than it did in 2010, etc. As for prices?
Median and average prices were a mixed bag. For sure, median price is higher in 2012 than it has been in all eight years except one (last year), at $608,000. Average price higher than prices from 2009 back to 2005, but 2010 and 2011 showed higher average prices. We have our own theory about the Boston housing market then and now (and it's not that exciting). It has to do with homebuying tax credits, low mortgage rates, and, see, you're already zoning out.
· First Quarter 2012 Boston Condo Sales Volume Shows Improvement from Past Seven Years [John A. Keith]
· Is Boston's Housing Market Just... Normal? [Curbed Boston]