Greater Boston real estate sales data for November

Listed in the charts below is the November single family and condo data for the Greater Boston real estate market* (note: the data charts are in jpg format so if you are on an outside site reading this and you can't see the charts below, click here to go to the full post):

A couple of additional interesting observations not shown in the data above:

1. Inventory is low: The inventory of single family homes listed for sale is at the lowest level in 12 months and the inventory of condos listed for sale is at its lowest level since June of 2005.
2. Median prices are up month to month: Between October 2008 and November 2008, median prices actually rose 1.2% for single family homes and 3.2% for condos - which is the first time since June 2008 that has occurred.

Although more modest declines were shown in the Greater Boston region compared to statewide, similar trends appear.  This is the worst November in ten years for single family homes in greater Boston as far as the number of sales, but a more limited supply of inventory has kept prices firmer than state prices. 

In individual local markets where inventory is tighter, prices have been much more "sticky" even than the Greater Boston regional data indicates as sellers who don't need to sell, don't.  Not much new inventory is coming on market to replace even the limited number of sales occurring in these areas (downtown Boston being one) is keeping prices more stable than in local markets with large inventory levels.

Local Boston neighborhood data to follow in a year end market wrap up in the next few days after Christmas.  Stay Tuned....

*Greater Boston data is collected from the 54 cities and towns generally surrounding Boston within Rt. 128.