Boston Condo for the Week of 4/22/06

Weekly activity from 4/22/06 through 4/29/06:

Number of new listings: 311
Number of price changes: 254
Number of properties back on the market: 18
Number of properties off the market: 50
Number of properties under agreement: 120
Number of properties sold: 38
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Total Inventory: 3,503

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MAR - Real Estate Data

The following information was obtained by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors:

Detached Single-family Home Sales:

March 2005-3,373
March 2006-3,440

2% increase.

Activity in the state's detached single-family market rose for the first time in six months on a year to year basis in March.

Supply of detached single-family homes on the market rose for the 13th consecutive month in March, climbing to 33.4% over the past year. There is presently 11.6 months supply which would indicate a buyers market. In Massachuestts, the market is equilibrium for buyers and sellers when there is 7.5 - 8 months of housing supply.

Statewide median selling price declined 1.7 percent over the past year.

Condo Sales:

1, 731 units sold in March set a new record for the month, topping the prior record of 1,691
condos sold a year ago in March 2005. However, inventory climbed to 11.9 months up from 8
months of supply in March 2005.

This is the 11th consecutive month of single digit annual appreciation in the condo market.

www.fordrealty.net

Boston Condominum Market

Weekly activity from 4/15/2006 through 4/22/2006

Number of new listings: 246
Number of price changes: 233
Number of properties back on the market: 23
Number of properties off the market: 51
Number of properties under agreement: 99
Number of properties sold: 24
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Total : 3,366

Mass Exodus

The Boston Globe reported yesterday that Massachusetts lost more residents than it attracted in recent years, the only state that lost more residents was New York.

The estimates show between 2000 and 2004 more residents left Ma then moved to the Bay State - with an average annual exodus of 42,402 people. That amounts to a rate of 6.6 people leaving the state per 1,000 second only to NY.

www.fordrealty.net

Source: Boston Globe

The start of the 2nd Q

According to LINK the start of the second quarter looks like this:

3,293 properties for sale.

2,757 condos for sale.

The following data is avg days on the market for properties that have not been sold yet.

Avg days on the market for all cities in LINK: 301

Avg days on the market for metro Boston (condos) - 290

Avg days on the market for Boston proper condos - 228

To compare with properties that have been sold avg days on the market are about the same as last year.

Overall inventory is still on the rise but condos are still selling.

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McMansion Backlash

The Boston suburbs are fighting back against the new crop of megahouses they are being built in the Boston suburb landscape. These are those 4, 000 to 10,000 sq ft homes that are poping up all over the area. these homes now have some intersting names such as "McMansion", "Hummer Houses" and "Starter Castles".

To give you an idea how the McMansion has been super-sized look that these stats:

1950- the average size house was 983 sq. ft.

2004 -the average size house is 2,349

140% increase.

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Boston Apartment Rental Market

The spring market is here and the rush to find an apartment is off to a fast start. Presently, if you are looking for an apartment commensing in September you should start your search now. Inventory at least in Beacon Hill is in short supply and with all the condo conversions in the last few years the market will be very tough for renters. I foresee rent prices increasing in Beacon Hill by about 10% this year.

Looking for an apartment visit our web site. www.fordrealty.net

Young Home Buyers Being Pushed Out

Rising home prices have been pushing the young home buyer ages 25-34 out of the metro Boston area. They are looking for property further and further away from Boston so they can raise their families.

A new federal report shows an incerase in Boston area housing prices has pushed many young adults out of the city suburbs into the rural areas outside of 128 and 495 belt.

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Boston Condo market - Weekly Activity

The following information was obtained by LINK:

Number of new listings: 118
Number of price changes: 119
Number of properties back on the market: 15
Number of properties off-the-market: 39
Number of properties under agreement: 92
Number of properties sold: 53
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Total Inventory: 3,225

It appears that the Boston housing inventory may finally have leveled off.

www.fordrealty.net

Boston Real Estate - Days On The Market

Boston condos days on the market (DOM)

$100,000 - $500,000

91 days based on 11 Boston neighborhoods

$501,000 - $999,999

125 days on the market based on 11 Boston neighborhoods

$1,000,000 - $10,000,000

164 days on the market based on 11 Boston neighborhoods

The following information was obtained by LINK

More 1st Q - Sales Data

The following information was obtained by LINK. These numbers include all towns and cities tracked by LINK.

Number of condos sold in the 1st Q in 2006 from $500,000 to $1,000,000 - 284.

Number of condos sold in the 1st Q in 2005 from $500,00 to $1,000,000 - 296.

Number of condos sold in the last quarter of 2005 from $500,000 to $1,000,000 - 494.

Boston Condo Market - Updated 1Q

The Boston real estate 1Q sales report is in and the sales data is a lot stronger then we had first anticipated. In the Boston condo market from the range of $500,000 and under there were 391 sales in downtown Boston this quarter compared to 399 at the end of the 1st Q of 2005.

The million dollar plus condo market didn't fair as well as the number of condo sales plummeted from 85 in the 1st Q of 2005 to 67 this quarter.

www.fordrealty.net

April 8th Real Estate Sales

The number of listings that went "under agreement" according to LINK this week was 131 properties. This is the most amount of real estate listings that went "under agreement" in one week since June 24, 2005.

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Updated 1st Quarter Sales Numbers

LINK provided me with an updated sales data for the 1st quarter thus far. Presently, the Boston condo market is only down -00.71% from last year at this time. Back Bay and Beacon Hill were down -27.35% and -41.18%. However, The Leather District was up a whoooping 385.71% and The Fenway was also up 119.05%.

These numbers are based on the first 75 days in 2006 compared with the first 75 days in 2005.

Back Bay Million Dollar Condo Market

The following data was obtained by LINK

The number of Back Bay condos that sold from $1,000,000 to $10,000,000 in 2005: 45

The number of Back Bay condos that sold from $1,000,000 to $10,000,000 in 2006: 24

www.fordrealty.net

Condominiums under agreement

The number of condos based on LINK data that went under agreement from 3/11/05 through 4/1/05 was 413.

This year based on the same dates there were 296 condos that went under agreement.

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