South End Real Estate Report

Labor Day has passed, the white pants are relegated to the back of the closet, and Boston has once again survived the student move-in madness. If you’ve been trying to find South End real estate to purchase, chances are you’ve been forced to compete with a number of other buyers for a relatively scarce inventory. With summer over, what does this mean for your South End real estate search?

Certainly the level of activity has dropped; from April through mid-June, the number of condos going under agreement danced on either side of 70 each month. Now it’s dropped down to just above 40. There are both advantages and disadvantages here. While spring and summer are certainly the peak months for moves around Boston—as well as for most of the rest of the country—the drop in sellers is mirrored by a drop in buyers. This means, if you’re still searching, you’re competing with fewer other potential buyers for each condo that you see.

That’s the good news. Unfortunately for buyers, the average price per square foot is not following that trend of an autumn dip. In fact, while there was a dip in South End square footage prices in the first quarter of 2014 (to $696 per square foot), the trend has otherwise been rising steadily since the third quarter of 2011, and on August 30, 2014, it stood at $814 per square foot. In fact, the asking/selling price ratio is actually at 101% for the second quarter of 2014—which means that sellers are getting a bit more than they are asking for, rather than less. This is likely due to competition amongst buyers in multiple offer situations. And with an average of only 24 days on the market for the second quarter, condos are selling almost as fast as they can be listed.

So if you’re looking to purchase a condo in the South End, your best bet is to be prepared to act quickly and pay a bit more. Since its lovely, quiet streets, classic brownstones, and amazing restaurants are clearly appealing to buyers, we suggest that you contact us today for some assistance in capturing one of those scarce South End condos.