South End Real Estate Update 6.28.2011

I am so all about the spring market (being held over by popular demand). During the winter, supply was tight, and the buyers who were willing to brave the snow didn't find much worth buying. I know this because I was actually out with buyers in the various blizzards we had. Honda Accord as snowmobile. 

Sales activity in most of the downtown Boston neighborhoods appears to have peaked for the season, but at least as of 6/15,  South End and Back Bay under agreements have continued to climb (Get the raw, graphic details here). The combination of the weather, continued low interest rates, and the fact that there's actually some attractive supply out there right now is generating lots of sales activity. South End Days on Market have actually gone down to 71, which is lower than it's been in years.

Median prices have remained strong and desireable, well priced properties are going quickly.

It is an opportune time for sellers who have reasonably priced, attractive properties (as opposed to overpriced, unattractive ones which have been and will continue to hang around for quite a while) to take advantage of the current activity.

I also seen several really nice properties come onto the market and sell at the first open house (a friend of mine put on a 2 bed/1 bath in the eight streets neighborhood in the mid 500's that was nice, needed maybe a little cosmetic work, and endeed up with multiple offers). Lesson if you're a buyer: know your market niche (or make sure you've got a good broker), and be ready to get into new properties as quickly as possible).

I have also seen overpriced, poorly staged, poorly marketed properties just languish for hundreds of days. And that's not going to change any time soon.

It is also a good time for buyers to take advantage of favorable rates, strong inventory, and potential anxiety on the part of sellers that the spring market is probably going to give way soon to the summer doldrums (next week, maybe?).

Please visit my South End Market Report Page for all the details on under agreements, $ per square foot, median price, etc. All presented in a very exciting graphic format, no 3-D glasses required.

(Check out the above chart for a look at South End units going under agreement)