Here's the latest installment of Bates By the Numbers, a weekly feature by Boston real estate agent David Bates that drills down into the Hub's housing market to uncover those trends you would not otherwise see. Check out his ebook, Context: Nine Key Condo Markets.
The first 10 months of 2013 have given single-family-home sellers in nine predominantly condominium neighborhoods a lot to give thanks for: less competition; fewer days on market; better sales price to list price ratios; multiple offers; and, often, higher sales prices than expected. Seriously, Santa's elves could not have delivered a better market for single-family sellers.
I looked at 583 single-family-home sales in Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Brookline, Cambridge, Charlestown, Jamaica Plain, Somerville, South Boston and the South End, and found that 47 percent went for over their asking price.
Here are a few notes about the biggest over-ask single-family sales in these neighborhoods.
The top 10 over-asks:
· To be in the Top 10, the offer had to be at least $251,000 over-ask.
· Nine (or 90 percent) occurred in Brookline or Cambridge.
· Eight went for at least $307,000 over-ask; three went for at least $426,000 over-ask; one, 66 Sparks Street in Cambridge, went for $1.3 million over ask.
· Four had list prices under $1 million.
· Four were in just one neighborhood: West Cambridge.
The top 25 over-asks:
· To be in the top 25, the offer had to be at least $153,000 over-ask.
· Twenty-three (or 92 percent) were located in Brookline or Cambridge.
· JP (one sale) and the South End (one sale) were the only other areas to crack the top 25.
· Of the 13 Cambridge homes on the list, four were in need of extensive renovations.
The top 50 over-asks:
· In 2013, to be in the top 50 the offer had to be at least $100,000 over-ask. In 2012, it had to be at least $33,500 over-ask. In 2011, just $5,500 over-ask.
· Thirty-six (or 72 percent) were located in Brookline or Cambridge.
· Somerville, with seven, was the next most prolific neighborhood, followed by Jamaica Plain (four).
· Twenty-four had list prices under $1 million.
· Overall, one out of about every 12 single-family sales in these markets sold for at least $100K over-ask, but one out of every six Cambridge single-families sold for at least $100K over-ask.
· Jesse Gustafson, the broker for a Brookline property that sold for $182,000 over-ask told me, "The kitchen and bathrooms were very outdated." In total, half of the 16 Brookline homes that garnered $100K over-ask needed extensive renovations.
· In 2010, after 177 days on market, 63 Foster Street in Cambridge failed to sell for $950,000. In 2013, this home was listed for $995,000 and closed at $1,140,000.
· Our Bates By the Numbers archive [Curbed Boston]
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