Last month the median sale price of a condominium in Massachusetts rose above the median sale price of a single-family home for the first time in four years – and experts say it’s not an anomaly. In fact, they think it’s only the beginning.
In March, the median condo sale price was $320,000, and the median single-family sale price was $315,000. This is only the second time the monthly median condo sales price was higher than the median single-family home since 1987, according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. The last time was in April 2012.
Last year, the Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University for The Boston Foundation released a report that found the median sale price of condos and single-family homes were essentially equal in Greater Boston, largely because of increased demand for higher-end units.
People and companies are flocking to Boston, where supply is lagging demand and driving up condo prices.
“Boston has huge impact on statewide condo sales,” said David Bates, a Realtor with William Raveis in Back Bay and real estate data-cruncher. “Suffolk County sells more than 25 percent of the total condos sold every year. There are more people moving downtown and less inventory for them to buy.”
In addition to the high-end luxury units in Boston, there are lots of less-expensive, but still pricey condos, in nearby Brookline, Cambridge and Somerville. Conversely, Bates said, he’s seeing single-family homes in towns like Sudbury selling for the same price they sold for 10 years ago.
“I think it’s going to continue,” he said. “We’re going to see more supply and a lot more demand downtown.”
And this is just the beginning, said Larry Rideout, CEO of Gibson Sotheby’s Real Estate.
“I don’t think it’s an anomaly,” Rideout said. “The reality is that bulk of the luxury condo transactions haven’t even occurred. They won’t happen until between July and September.”
The housing game of musical chairs has begun, he said, and “the momentum has started.”
Multimedia: For a video of local Realtor Anthony Lamacchia discussing the market so far this year, click here.
