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.
This column represents my 52nd for Curbed Boston, and, of course, 52 weeks makes a year. I've had a blast and I hope you have, too! It seems like just yesterday I was writing about how the Boston condo market was moving as fast as Michael Phelps at the Olympics, but it was a year ago. Boy, how time flies!
While I have a moment, I'd like to own up to a couple of things. Remember the tale I told you about Boston inventory? Well, it's time to admit that I patterned that post after a joke I used to tell about the big animals playing the little animals in a football game. And, obviously, my post about what you don't get for $1 million in the Hub was themed after the song, "If I Had a Million Dollars."
But, as you know, most of my columns have been about numbers. As far as numbers are concerned, I feel like I've broken down our market in more ways than a $500 blender. We've talked about a lot of numbers that are important to understand our market (inventory, absorption, sales pace, over-asks percentage, etc.) that, simply put, you just won't see discussed anywhere else. Sure, quantitative measurements are important, yet but so are qualitative terms, like my post on classifying Boston condo markets or my post—before the market went ballistic— about the one word that indicated a condo was going to sell super-fast.
Communicating information is important and, at the same time, I like the posts that are a little light-hearted, like that time I accused the Boston condo market of being on the performance-enhancing drug known as low interest rates; or even the headline I wrote: "Boston Condo Inventory Is So Low [Insert Punchline Here]." And what about the post I did from the future?
It can't all be so exciting. You sure seemed bored when I wrote about how gas-heated homes were about to start out-selling oil-heated homes. Yet, you came out in droves to read about the Cambridge single-family I discovered that sold for more than $1 million over the asking price. I think I will always be amazed by that. Will you? I guess that's the nature of things, ups and downs.
In this past year, I've written more than a fair share of columns about the Back Bay market. When there's a lot of research to be done, it helps to focus on one market—even though, in all likelihood, the trends found there are region-wide trends. I feel like I've written a lot about South Boston and Brookline, too. I've even received requests to write about markets that feel as overlooked as a middle child. Sorry about that, Charlestown.
We've laughed and we've cried together. I'll never forget writing about the Marathon bombing. In my opinion, that's the most important thing that's happened since I started writing for Curbed Boston.
Still, it's been a fantastic year, readers, one I will always remember. Tonight, let's both raise a glass and look forward to another year of great real estate news.
· Our Bates By the Numbers archive [Curbed Boston]