I really do love Boston real estate brokers, we’re a very optimistic group, generally speaking.
Yesterday, I ran into a friend who happens to be a Beacon Hill real estate broker, he was telling me how the media has this all wrong about COVID-19 and the social unrest and its impact on the Boston condo for sale market.
Confused, I said – but it is. This lead to a heated discussion. Now before I get into the merits of our conversation, let me share with you a short story.
A short story about drawing your own conclusions
This wonderful story was circulated by email several years ago. Here is an adapted version that can be used to illustrate several different themes as it relates to the Boston real estate market.
Once upom a time, a bishop invited a young priest to dinner. During the meal, the priest noticed some signs of intimacy between the bishop and his housekeeper. As the priest was leaving, the bishop said to him quietly, “I can guess what you are thinking, but really our relationship is strictly proper.”
A few days later the housekeeper remarked to the bishop that a valuable antique solid silver soup ladle was missing – since the young priest’s visit – and so she wondered if he might have taken it. “I doubt it, but I will ask him,” said the bishop.
So the bishop wrote to the priest: “Dear Father, I am not saying that ‘you did’ take a solid silver ladle from my house, and I am not saying that ‘you did not’ take a solid silver ladle from my house, but the fact is that the ladle has been missing since your visit..”
Duly, the bishop received the young priest’s reply, which read: “Your Excellency, I’m not saying that ‘you do’ sleep with your housekeeper, and I’m not saying that ‘you do not’ sleep with your housekeeper, but the fact is that if you were sleeping in your own bed, you would by now have found the ladle.”
The Boston real estate debate
As I told my Beacon Hill friend, I’m glad you’re having your best year ever. But I’m also reading the Boston condo sales data numbers, and it doesn’t look good.
Now I’m not saying that the Boston condo sales market is slow because of Conid-19 or the social unrest. I’m differently not saying this Boston real estate broker is exaggerating how well he’s doing. But if you look at numbers, you can draw your own conclusions.
Boston Real Estate Sales Data and the Bottom Line
May 2020 – Number of Boston condos sold – 247 down 49.21% versus May 2019.
May 2020 – Median Boston condo sales price $625,000 down 7.5% versus May 2019.
May 2020 – Inventory Boston condos 1,182 down 12.4% versus May 2019
May 2020 – Day’s-on-Market 47 up 9.32% versus May 2019
May 2020 – Median Boston condo sales price per sq ft. $612.00 down 15.8% versus May 2019
Boston Real Estate for Sale
