High-end condos still a tough sell in Boston
But despite slump, overall market doing better than expected
The slumping downtown Boston condominium market is showing signs of improvement, but still has not stabilized at the top end.
New data from the third quarter show sales of the city’s high-end, full-service buildings fell 32.3 percent, median sales prices dropped 12.6 percent, and price per square foot was off 20.3 percent, compared with the same period last year.
The downtown condo market in general is faring slightly better than the high-end segment, according to Listing Information Network, a private company that follows the downtown condo market. Sales were down 10.4 percent and median prices down 5.4 percent last quarter, according to the report.
Debra Taylor Blair, president of Listing Information Network, said she had expected far worse. “It was very positive that the median selling price was only down 5 percent,’’ Taylor Blair said.
The news followed the weekend auction of 14 condominiums - at deep discounts - in the deluxe Bryant Back Bay complex, which led some local real estate industry officials to say high-end buyers are returning, if the price is right.
In 40 minutes, buyers snapped up $20 million worth of condos at an average of $1.4 million a unit, or $671 a square foot, said Jon Gollinger, chief executive of Accelerated Marketing Partners, the Boston firm that ran the auction. Prices were as much as 40 percent below last asking prices for the deluxe condos in the 50-unit building, Gollinger said. On average, the prices were about 27 percent last asking prices, he said. It was the first auction in an upscale Back Bay residential complex in decades.
John Ranco, a senior broker at Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty in Boston, said he was enthusiastic that there were buyers for such high-end homes on the border of the Back Bay and South End.
“Any kind of movement is fantastic,’’ said Ranco. “It is a complete vote of confidence in our local market.’’
Real estate broker Kevin Ahearn said he believes the luxury downtown market is on the mend with nearly 200 sales of homes of more than $1 million this year. Still, he called the Bryant results “a little disappointing’’ because he hoped for higher values.
Ahearn, president of the Boston-based real estate brokerage and marketing firm Otis & Ahearn, has in the past criticized auctions for driving down real estate values.
He said he doubted other full-service luxury buildings - like the Clarendon, Battery Wharf, and 45 Province - would follow the lead of Boston Bryant Back Bay. Overall, he said the Boston real estate market is “showing strength and it is coming back.’’
Gollinger said the weekend auction results reflected new housing data showing still a gulf between what buyers will pay and what sellers are offering.
“We are disappointed in the broader sense that this development was developed toward a market that doesn’t exist today,’’ he said. “We had to take a deep breath and sell at a price the consumer wanted to pay.’’
Jenifer McKim can be reached at jmckim@globe.com. 
