The worst may be over for the condominium market in greater Boston, as newly released data show that sales of condo units rebounded in the city of Boston during the fourth quarter of 2006, climbing 0.9 percent over the same three-month period the previous year, while condo sales in the 54 cities and towns served by the Greater Boston Real Estate Board (GBREB) fell by just 100 units, or a modest 4.7 percent, in the final quarter of last year compared to the same quarter in 2005. The relatively stable sales pace follows sales declines of 12 percent and 15 percent in Boston during the second and third quarters of 2006 respectively, and decreases of 8 percent and 20 percent throughout the GBREB jurisdictional area in last year’s second and third quarters, an indication that demand is improving and a recovery in prices may not be far off.
Notably, in greater Boston, the median selling price for condominiums slipped 2.7 percent in the fourth quarter to $327,000, but was down just 1.4 percent on an annual basis last year, declining from an all-time high median price of $345,000 in 2005 to $340,000 in 2006. Meanwhile, in Boston proper the median selling price for condos sold in the final three months of the year fell 7.1 percent from the same period a year earlier to $325,000, however the annual median selling price was flat in 2006, at $349,000.
On an annual basis, sales of condominiums declined 7.6 percent in the City of Boston during 2006 from one year earlier, while sales activity dropped 9.5 percent across the larger 54 community GBREB jurisdiction. Nonetheless, the 9.529 condos sold in greater Boston in 2006 is the second highest yearly sales volume on record, topped only the 10,526 units sold in 2005. Statewide, last year, condo sales fell 12.1 percent, from a record 23,536 in 2005 to 20,698. For complete quarterly and annual data on the condominium and single-family home markets in both greater Boston and Massachusetts, visit the Housing & Research Data section of marealtor.com.
Keith Munsell 
