How is the Boston condo sales market doing, compared to prior years?
Caveat (of course!): this data is drawn solely from MLSPIN, our local multiple listing service, so it is woefully incomplete. The data includes all sales reported in MLSPIN during the month of August, for the past four years. However, it does not include ALL sales within the city – some developers bypass MLSPIN completely, while others only put several “test” units into the system, one in each price range.
Also, MLSPIN has only become the primary listing database for downtown Boston agents during the past two-to-three years; prior to that, just about everyone used LINK, the other listing database (so, 2004 numbers are especially suspect).
2007
Number of condos sold (closed) over past 30 days: 468
Median sales price, last 30 days: $362,882
Average sales price, last 30 days: $443,718
Average days on market: 90
Ratio, closing (sales) price to original (list) price: 94%
2006
Number of condos sold (closed) over past 30 days: 580
Median sales price, last 30 days: $341,000
Average sales price, last 30 days: $421,297
Average days on market: 97
Ratio, closing (sales) price to original (list) price: 94%
2005
Number of condos sold (closed) over past 30 days: 651
Median sales price, last 30 days: $345,000
Average sales price, last 30 days: $442,003
Average days on market: 54
Ratio, closing (sales) price to original (list) price: 96%
2004
Number of condos sold (closed) over past 30 days: 601
Median sales price, last 30 days: $339,000
Average sales price, last 30 days: $401,707
Average days on market: 47
Ratio, closing (sales) price to original (list) price: 97%
My thoughts?
Wow. Look at the sales volume. It’s dropped, a lot – by a third, compared to 2005? Now, some of this is because a lot of new developments closed in 2005, but that can’t account for the drop. I think a lot of the change is due to first-time homebuyers delaying purchases in 2006 and 2007. Plus, the frenzy of the market and buyer psychology (“we have to buy, now!”).
Wow. Look at the change in “average days on market”. Almost doubled.
Wow. Look at average and median sales prices. Very little change. Very little.
Hmmm. Look at list to sales price. When all is said and done, properties that end up selling are usually priced accurately from the very beginning. Owners who are just “trying out the market” probably list at inappropriate prices, then withdraw their units, if and when they don’t sell.
Based on information provided to and compiled by MLS Property Information Network, Inc. All data, courtesy of MLSPIN.
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