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You Blew Your Chance at a Cheaper Back Bay Condo

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The news dropped yesterday that downtown Boston's condo market had a very good second quarter. The median sales price for condos in the city's toniest neighborhoods was up collectively to a record $515,000, according to a report from our pals at LINK Boston. Drilling down into that formidable report (99 pages!), we find that the collective condo prices, while impressive, mask some struggles or challenges (analyzing the city's real estate is kind of a glass half-full/half-empty thing).

Take Back Bay (please). Just about every price measure in the swank neighborhood was down from the second quarter of 2011—the median sales price, for instance, was down 8.22 percent and the average price per square foot was down 4.29 percent. Still, remember how a few seconds ago we said it was a glass half-full/half-empty thing? Those prices ($759,500 and $787.63, respectively) were well above what they were even during the boom years during the middle of the last decade. Meanwhile, Back Bay condo sales were their highest in five years.

So! Gander at the above graph. It's the inventory of unsold Back Bay condos on the sales market. Yup. The lower that gets (and it will get lower because of the brisker sales and the lack of new development), the pricier these condos are likely to be. Last quarter was your chance.

· As Downtown Boston Condo Prices Sizzle, Some Cold Water [Curbed Boston]