In Boston condo market, Inventory grows and prices fall

The average sale price for a condo in Boston proper was 11.5 percent less in the third quarter of 2024 than in that same period the year before, according to a market report by Warren Residential.

In more good news for buyers, inventory is up. In the third quarter, the city had 4.09 months of inventory to meet the demand. Meaning, that’s how long it would take to sell the number of active listings. Compare that to the third quarter of 2023, which had only 3.07 months, and the same quarter in 2020, which had 5.23 months. A healthy market has at least five months.

Units also spent 44 days on the market in Boston overall, two days longer than in the third quarter of 2023, according to the report. Buyers continue to be sidelined by climbing mortgage rates, which have hit their highest point in six months. They’re not 1980s high, but look how much of a difference a rate change can make on a $700,000 loan (the average sale price of a condo in Greater Boston in November):

Source: NerdWallet

This is without a down payment, which brings down the loan amount, and you can buy points to reduce your interest rate, but that $150,000-plus is two years of tuition at Boston University. (Just tuition.)

The number of listings has also climbed. It’s up 5.7 percent compared to the third quarter of 2023, Warren Residential said, but the average sale price was still a hefty sum: $1,033,449.

Sales prices in the condo market can vary widely based on available inventory, but here’s the breakdown from Warren Residential by neighborhood in the third quarter of 2024: