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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIt's more expensive now to buy a condo in Massachusetts than a single-family home.
Condos now tops in price
It's more expensive now to buy a condo here in Massachusetts than a single-family home.
If that is surprising to you, it certainly was to me when I took another look at the most recent price report by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.
The median price of a condo in Massachusetts rose to $280,000 in April, up 3.5 percent from April 2011.
That's a good $5,000 above the median price for a home here in Massachusetts, which stood at $275,000 in April.
The Massachusetts Association of Realtors shows a similar trend, though it pegs the median condo price at $273,000, a shade under the median home price of $282,450.
Overall, condo sales were up 10 percent, year-over-year, in April. Meanwhile, as demand has risen, supply has fallen, with the number of units on the market falling more than 20 percent over the past year, MAR reports.
http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2012/06/condos_now_tops.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed2_HP
WingDinger
(3,690 posts)coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts)and high-priced, urban areas whereas homes are spread over urban, suburban and rural?
I've heard that new assistant profs at Harvard U. usually cannot afford to buy in either Cambridge or Boston and must buy housing further out. Not sure whether that is still the case.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)One of my co-workers found a single family home with a guest house but it is 45 minutes outside downtown Boston where work is. She didn't care about the drive, being from Texas we drive all over the place. It would have cost her more than she paid to get an old brickstone(on edit brickstone/brownstone whatever you call those ) in downtown area and have a fraction of the land/space.
rox63
(9,464 posts)I wish my condo was worth more than a house. Then I wouldn't be stuck underwater.
Edit to add: I suspect most of these high-priced condos are either around Boston, or in a few select pricey towns.
YellowRubberDuckie
(19,736 posts)...and those can be more than your mortgage!
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)And condos would tend to be newer construction than single-family homes in MA. Zoning and other regulations tend to restrict homebuilding in MA, compared with other parts of the country. Most new single-family homes built during the pre-2008 boom were built in the south and west, not the midwest or northeast.