The average price per square foot for a downtown Boston condo set a record in the second quarter of 2014, according to LINK, reaching $728. As for luxury units, that per-square-foot average hit $1,188, a 15 percent jump from the same three months in 2013. Throughout Massachusetts, in fact, condo prices have increased, so much so that the gap between the median price of a condo and that of a house statewide is now just $20K.
Why the rises? A Globe trend piece in Tuesday's paper seeks to make sense of it all as have we over the months and years. Basically, it's ever-greater demand driving a largely static supply.
As Priyanka Dayal McCluskey notes in The Globe, two groups in particular are driving condo sales, and condo sale prices, in downtown Boston: "baby boomers who have sold suburban homes and are flush with cash, and young professionals entering the market. Both types of buyers want to be in or near the city."
Unfortunately for them, there's limited supply. And never mind the ballyhooed building boom in Boston proper. Much of that is of rentals, not condos. Inventory, then, remains cartoonishly low and you have these ever-creeping-up prices.
· No Longer Just a Second Choice, Condos Are in High Demand [Curbed Boston]
· Downtown Boston Is Just One Big Empty Nest [Curbed Boston]
· Mapping Boston's 4,776 New Apartments and Condos [Curbed Boston]
· Boston, It's Time to Admit You Have an Inventory Problem [Curbed Boston]
Loading comments...