The first half 2009 statistics are in, and the South End continues to drive the most unit sales of the major downtown Boston neighborhoods. According to LINK, one of Boston’s two multiple listing service systems, the South End saw 238 condos sell during the first six months of 2009, ahead of South Boston with 204 condos sold.
Average and median South End condo prices in the first half of 2009 were $597,375 and $518,750 respectively, and average price per square foot across the neighborhood was $575. The average days that a home sat on the market before selling was 96. Compared to the previous six months (July through December 2008), the number of listings sold in the South End has taken a drop from 373, however, the other statistics have remained relatively the same, with average and median price at $601,324 and $512,000 respectively, and price per square foot at $588.
South End listings appear to be selling markedly faster than the downtown Boston average of 130 days on the market, but come very close to representing the downtown average and median sales price, $606,738 and $495,896 respectively over the past six months – overall, this represents a slowdown from the previous six months where downtown Boston average and median sales prices were $708,657 and $503,364 respectively.
Across the downtown Boston neighborhoods, the Back Bay continues to drive the highest average sales price and price per square foot at $1,110,356 and $769 respectively.
Keith Munsell 
Would you say over all the market is getting a better tone to it as other areas of the country have. Lower prices and increased sales volume in the markets with the extreme price reductions. The markets that have not smashed down hard are slowly coming back. Is this the case for yours.
I am in Bergen County New Jersey, just outside of Manhattan, and this is what we are like. Our high end however is rough.
Downtown Boston has remained quite steady over the past several years, and was not impacted like other areas of the US. The market continues to be hyper local, with some neighborhoods continuing to appreciate, some showing signs of some decrease, but on a whole, remaining relatively stable. See the following URL for a recent look at the downtown Boston residential real estate market status: https://bostonrealestateobserver.com/boston-real-estate-statistics/