21 Responses to “Boston condo market – I’m seeing some positve signs” »»

1. mary
   Comment by mary | 11/20/09 at 6:34 am

   Over 20% percent drop in price per sq foot…yikes…what happened to 3% per year appreciation????

2. joseph
   Comment by joseph | 11/20/09 at 8:49 am

   I think the person who said that moved to another blog

3. Boston Broker
   Comment by Boston Broker | 11/20/09 at 8:53 am

   Mary, according to John’s numbers the price per sq ft is up in November? What say you?

4. Mary
   Comment by Mary | 11/20/09 at 3:01 pm

   oops..

5. Egg Salad
   Comment by Egg Salad | 11/21/09 at 2:13 am

   Double B,

   Are you suggesting that condo’s have appreciated 25% in the last 12 months?

6. Mary
   Comment by Mary | 11/21/09 at 2:50 am

   “If you’re a Boston condo owner or seller, here’s some postive news”

   How so? the numbers are almost identical to last year, immediately after the stock market crash and the worst credit freeze in history….

7. John Ford
   Comment by John Ford | 11/21/09 at 3:07 am

   Hi Mary, you don’t think a jump in price per sq ft from $475 to $603 is significant figure? But more important, if the Massachusetts unemployment figures continue to trend downwards it should have a major impact on sales as more buyers feel more comfortable about the economy.

8. Mary
   Comment by Mary | 11/21/09 at 4:02 am

   John,

   Come on, you know I love you but you really don’t believe that prices increased 42% in two weeks:

   October 2009

   Avg. $/SF Boston condo: $423

   lol….

9. Egg Salad
   Comment by Egg Salad | 11/21/09 at 4:17 am

   John,

   I’m having a hard time putting my mind around the increase in average price and average price per square foot and the drop in median price. Where there a few doosy’s out there with a really high price per square foot. Or are there alot of really small places selling

10. Mary
    Comment by Mary | 11/21/09 at 4:19 am

    As far as unemployment goes one month does not make a trend. Of greater concern for sellers is salaries are decreasing making it harder for buyers to afford even lower priced properties.

    Here is your bump in employment:

    “Tanja Hayward, managing partner of Worcester staffing firm Partnership Employment Inc., said that since June her firm has increased its placement of temporary workers, though mostly entry-level positions. Temporary jobs across the board are paying $2 to $3 less per hour than what they had been, she added.

    Higher-level, $85,000-a-year executive jobs, which employers are taking their time filling because of the abundance of strong candidates, are paying $10,000 to $15,000 less. And employers are combining two jobs into one, she said. “

11. John Ford
    Comment by John Ford | 11/21/09 at 4:26 am

    Mary, as a real estate broker if I can find some good news in the Boston condo market, I’m going to exploit as much as possible. Don’t rain on my parade… lol

12. John Ford
    Comment by John Ford | 11/21/09 at 4:29 am

    Egg Salad, I’ll dig deeper into those numbers.

13. Mary
    Comment by Mary | 11/21/09 at 4:59 am

    “Mary, as a real estate broker if I can find some good news in the Boston condo market, I’m going to exploit as much as possible”

    Gotcha, friends

    BTW,

    Those numbers for November do seem strange. A quick look at the sales and there doesn’t appear to be an inordinate amount of high end sales.

    Here’s a biggy:

    Mandarin Oriental unit W-9 sold for 2.5 million or a 1.5 million below asking….sorry I can’t help myself…

14. John Ford
    Comment by John Ford | 11/21/09 at 5:44 am

    Mary, 520 Beacon Street #6A on the market for $529,000 sold for $568,000.00. Hmm…”sorry I can’t help myself…” lol

15. Jeff Persons
    Comment by Jeff Persons | 11/21/09 at 5:44 am

    When you see “positive signs” make sure you can quantify them somehow. Otherwise you are just kidding yourself. Although I understand the urge to look for a rebound in the RE market as it just might help you get out of bed in the morning. However there are no positive signs if you cant quantify them.

16. John Ford
    Comment by John Ford | 11/21/09 at 6:04 am

    Jeff, fair enough. When I come back from my showing I’ll show you some “positive signs” that can be quantified.

17. Mary
    Comment by Mary | 11/21/09 at 8:16 am

    “Mary, 520 Beacon Street #6A on the market for $529,000 sold for $568,000.00. Hmm…”sorry I can’t help myself…” lol”

    Sorry JF original asking was 599k…try again

18. Mary
    Comment by Mary | 11/21/09 at 9:06 am

    “Egg Salad, I’ll dig deeper into those numbers”

    Don’t bother, it’s the Bryant “sales” hitting ….

19. John Ford
    Comment by John Ford | 11/21/09 at 9:13 am

    Ok Mary, you won this round, but I’m like Rocky I’ll be back. For the record the condo was listed for $599,000 on 6/25/09 and by 8/24/09 it was reduced, with an asking price was $529,000. One could argue that because it went above the last asking price, perhaps we hit bottom.

20. Bob
    Comment by Bob | 11/21/09 at 10:58 am

    There are some pretty smart people that trade in the bond and note market. On Tuesday the 3 month T-bill’s yield was .6%. By Thursday it had fallen to .05%. Percentage wise that drop is huge. It takes quite a bit on money to make yields fall that far that fast. There is some big money being bet that we are going to see deflation. Deflation isn’t positive if you want your home to increase in price. For a time period on Thursday the actual yield on the 3 month t-bill was negative. That’s right investors were so concerned about the economy that they were willing to store their money and have a NEGATIVE return. Long-term rates are extremely low at the moment. The Fed is almost the only buyer in the Mortgage backed securities market. They plan to exit the market at the end of March. When that happens yields will rise. People don’t purchase homes based on price, but rather on payment. This will not end good.

21. John Ford
    Comment by John Ford | 11/23/09 at 8:29 am

    Bob, interesting article in today’s New York Times entitled: Federal Government Faces Balloon in Debt Payments. The national debt is now topping $12 trillion.

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