It's "over-ask" or "over-asking"—as in offers for Greater Boston homes above, and often well beyond, the asking price. Yes, it seemed sometimes in 2013, that the only way to grab a dream home in one of the region's more desirable areas was to show up looking like the Monopoly mascot, moneybags and all. Our regular numbers guru, Boston real estate agent David Bates, followed the trend throughout the year, including where the most over-asks were happening and where the biggest ones were being bandied about.
Like back in the fall: "The neighborhood that was the most active for over-ask offers was inventory-starved Cambridge, where 62 percent of October's [condo] closings went for over asking and 81 percent of sellers took at least the asking price." Or this nugget for August for key markets like Back Bay and Somerville: "53.7 percent of the sellers accepted offers that were in excess of the list price."
Or! Note any number of ginormous over-asks during the year that almost was, like the $376,000 over-ask for 79 Coolidge Street in Brookline or the $1,300,000 (yes, $1.3M) over-ask for 66 Sparks Street in Cambridge.
All this over-asking, of course, led to bidding wars throughout the region, all of it exacerbated by a ridiculously low inventory that shows few signs of growing. Happy New Year, prospective buyers.
· Where and Why Hub Condos Go for Over or Under Asking [Curbed Boston]
· $100K Over Asking? Here's Where in the Hub [Curbed Boston]
· Not a Summer Fad: Over-Asks in the Hub's Condo Market [Curbed Boston]
· 79 Coolidge Went for Even More Than $376K Over-Ask [Curbed Boston]
· This Cambridge Home Received an Over-Ask Offer for the Ages [Curbed Boston]
· Further Proof the Hub's One Big Condo-Bidding Warzone [Curbed Boston]