Downtown condo sales slide 15%
Dearth of new units cited for latest drop
A slowdown in the number of available modern condominiums contributed to a 15 percent decline in sales in the downtown Boston real estate market during the second quarter of this year.
Currently, there are very few large condo projects with multiple units listed for sale. That's in sharp contrast to previous years, when dozens of projects were hitting the market, feeding buyers' demand for full-service buildings with concierges and underground parking.
The citywide median price, or midpoint price, for a condo increased 5.4 percent, to $500,000, compared with the same period last year. The average price surged 8 percent, to $697,837, driven by sales of new, more expensive units with luxury amenities. The data was provided yesterday by the Listing Information Network Inc., which tracks the downtown housing market.
There are still willing buyers, real estate professionals said, but the shrinking supply of available new condos means there are fewer choices. The quarter that ended June 30 was the third straight in which sales declined compared with the year earlier.
LINK's data show there has also been a sharp decline this year in condo sales in the city's older brownstones, townhouses, and other row houses.
"Downtown is slowing down," said Debra Taylor Blair, LINK's president. "But we're seeing at the higher end, we still have a shortage of luxury units, and they tend to sell swiftly - anything over $2 million."
While a credit crunch and record foreclosures have created a glut of properties in many suburbs, Gary Dwyer, who owns Buyer Agents of Boston, said first-time buyers looking downtown or those wanting to trade up to units priced around $700,000 are also finding the supply is scarce.
"What I'm experiencing is very strong interest and a lack of inventory" of properties for sale, he said.
The supply of condos has fallen steadily since peaking in 2006 at about 1,800 condos. Currently, there are 1,250 properties listed for sale - roughly the same as in June 2007 - in the 12 neighborhoods tracked by LINK, which include Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Charlestown, the North End, and the South End.
Diane Maloney, whose Boston firm is marketing the 45 Province luxury development, said there are only 55 units in brand new and ready-to-move-in buildings listed for sale in all of downtown. Maloney said buyers have signed agreements for about one-quarter of the 138 condos in 45 Province, which is still under construction.
The downtown housing market is "being lumped in with the much broader real estate market, and that's a little misleading," said David Stenberg, who manages Hammond Residential Real Estate's Boston operations. "The downtown market is much healthier than the rest of the market."
Kimberly Blanton can be reached at blanton@globe.com.
