Wowza! It might be luxury developments like Millennium Place, Chanel No. 6 or 45 Province. Or the expectations engendered by looming luxury developments like Millennium Tower. Or maybe it's simply the cartoonishly low inventory. Whatever the reason: The average sales price of a downtown Boston condo is close to $1 million now.
The average closing tag for condos in downtown Boston neighborhoods such as Beacon Hill, Back Bay, the South End, Downtown Crossing and the Financial District was just under $950,000 in the first quarter of 2014, according to stats from LINK Boston and The Boston Globe. That's 17 percent more than in the same period in 2013. Meanwhile, the median sales price jumped 23 percent to $660,000.
Again, there's no single reason for such spikes (though we'd venture the super sad low inventory has a lot to do with it). What is clear, though, is that we're witnessing a titanic (and probably irreversible) shift in the perception of downtown Boston. "We've gone through a major transformation in the city," Debra Taylor Blair, president of LINK, told The Globe, "and we're approaching more of a New York City lifestyle." Congratulations to us all.
· Boston Luxury Condo Prices Soar [Globe]
· This Is What $1M-Plus Buys You in Millennium Place [Curbed Boston]
· Chanel No. 6 Notches Boston's Biggest Deal of 2014 [Curbed Boston]
· Busy, Busy 45 Province Medals in Downtown Boston Condos [Curbed Boston]
· Countdown Begins to Downtown Crossing's Millennium Tower [Curbed Boston]
· Boston, It's Time to Admit You Have an Inventory Problem [Curbed Boston]