In looking at November 2008 sales statistics for downtown Boston, the number of listings that sold in the month has decreased substantially from the same time period in 2007, while prices flashed various signals in different market segments, both up and down.
The downtown Boston market slowed (in terms of number of units sold) year on year in November by approximately 34%, moving from 196 condos sold in 2007 to 130 in 2008. The bulk of that percentage slowdown comes from a 59% drop in the number of $1 million + homes that were sold, versus a drop of 28% in the under $1 million market. Various downtown neighborhoods have experienced a slowdown at different magnitudes, the South End for instance, has shown to be slowing less than the overall market (see South End Market Slows Down, Well…Maybe).
In the month of November, average and median prices of homes sold increased by 4% and 7% respectively in the under $1 million market year over year, while luxury homes over $1 million saw average and median prices decrease by 16% and 9% respectively.
Performance in the $1 million + market has impacted overall trends, however, it’s interesting to note that homes in this price range have accounted for only 10% – 17% of the overall November market of sold homes in 2007 and 2008.
Keith Munsell 
I found a similar disparity in our residential markets in northern Bergen County New Jersey. The high end had dropped, but it had gapped up substantially in the prior years. Pricing seems to compress. Sales have slow from 9-30% up to the town and median prices from 5 to 16% decline from recent highs.
Richard