The median sales price rose nearly 9 percent for units at luxury properties in Boston such as the Mandarin Oriental complex.
(David L. Ryan/Globe Staff/File 2008)
Downtown Boston's condo sales off sharply
The median sales price rose nearly 9 percent for units at luxury properties in Boston such as the Mandarin Oriental complex.
(David L. Ryan/Globe Staff/File 2008)
Sales of condominiums in downtown Boston plunged in the last quarter of 2008 as inventory shrank, new data show. The decline substantiates anecdotal evidence that buyers and sellers are avoiding the market.
Listing Information Network Inc., known as LINK, released data yesterday showing that inventory in the downtown condo market dropped 16 percent, from 1,022 in September to near a record low of 863 in December.
"People are opting not to sell; they are opting to take their properties off the market until prices rebound," said Debra Taylor Blair, president of LINK, which tracks condominium sales in 12 markets, including the Back Bay and the South End.
As sales declined 20 percent in the fourth quarter, the median selling price for condominiums fell slightly, from $465,0000 to $450,000, according to the new data. The full-year data showed median sales prices rose modestly, from $460,000 in 2007 to $475,000 in 2008.
The luxury market continued to hold steady, most likely affected by sales at high-end properties like the Mandarin Oriental, Boston. The median selling price for luxury properties increased by nearly 9 percent, from $669,900 in 2007 to $730,000 in 2008.
Full-year sales prices, as usual, depended greatly on location. The Back Bay reported a 19 percent increase in median selling price, to $745,500. In the North End, the median sales price of condominiums dropped by 13 percent, to $349,999.
"You have the luxury market doing remarkably well and the neighborhoods having price declines," Taylor Blair said.
Jenifer McKim can be reached at jmckim@globe.com.
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