As we did in the January recap, we will focus on the condominium sales and listing data as the sample sizes for both single-family and multi-family are too small to gather any trends. Also, the source of the data was exclusively from MLS, which we find to be more comprehensive, especially on the listing side, and timely as we can complete these monthly reports in the first week of the following month.
Please note that the Covid-19 state of emergencies had not taken place in February, so the virus had little effect on the real estate market in February. We certainly anticipate the virus effect in the March and April Recaps.
Our overall conclusion for February 2020 is that the South Boston residential real estate market was heating up and had a considerable amount of energy and activity that is reflected in the Sale Pending, Days on Market, and Current Listings graphs below. Although both the number sales and the median sale price was down from January 2020 and down year over year from February 2019, both lagging indicators, all other indicators were trending up.
We listed our specific comments, as of February 29th, below each graph.
The term Real Buyers means sold units or closed transactions. The amount of sold condominiums in February (23) was similar to January’s number (24). This was expected as the activity level did not pick up until the first week in January . This increase in activity, given the 45-60 day lag-time from offer to closing, will be reflected in the March Real Buyer numbers.
Here’s another graph that’s interesting but don’t put much stock in It. It will have more value when the quarterly and yearly numbers are input. The median price for all sales (23) is February was $755,000.
I hesitated using this graph for the monthly recap because the sample sizes across each price band are too small. Typically, units that have a smaller living area fetch more per square foot than larger units. In other words, it’s easier to sell a 500 SF unit for $500K ($1,000 per SF) than sell a 2,500 SF unit for $2,500,000 ($1,000 per SF). It is challenging, but not impossible, to sustain a very high price per square over very large units. This graph will have more meaning in a half-year or a yearly recap. The price per SF changes for each square footed range and location in the building.
The median living area graph refers to closed sales. As you can see, two of the price bands had no sales in February.
The number of Sale Pending units increased sharply in February (54) as compared to the 35 in January, 2020 , a 54% increase and a 170% increase from February of 2019. Again, this was expected as activity levels (showings and open attendance) jumped significantly in early January.
Days on Market (DOM) is a measurement of the age of the listing in MLS and can be used as a gauge to test relative strength and direction of a market. In our market, DOM tends to increase after July and decrease after the holidays in January. The DOM for February is quite low especially for the lower price bands. This was expected as the inventory is very low. (See Month’s Supply graph and the Current Listings graph)
The 87 Condominiums that are on the market represent 1.8 month’s inventory based on the condominium absorption rate over the previous 12 months. Note that half the current listings (43) are asking above a 1 million, 5 of which are asking above 2 million dollars. These listings are all in 02127 as the SB Seaport inventory was not included in this market recap…Things have certainly changed around here!
Month’s Supply is based on the number of current listings, for each price band, divided by the average monthly absorption from the previous 12 months for each respective price band. The overall Month’s supply is 1.8 months and is considered to be low for our industry as a healthy, stable market has 4-6 months inventory.
