September 2021 highlights
The median sale price of single family homes in Boston jumped 22%, but the increase isn’t an indication of a newly hot market or of true home value appreciation. An increase in the number of homes listed pumped up the median and sale price will likely return to its usual trend in October.
- Single family homes in the city sold unusually quickly. Boston single family homes sold in a median of 15 days, down 62% from August and significantly faster than August 2020 at 37 days and 2019 at 51 days. At the same time, the number of homes listed jumped 150%, indicating that more choices may have inspired buyers to purchase quickly. Sale-to-list price ratio fell 2%, showing that those buyers faced less competition than buyers since April.
- Boston condos sat idle. There’s a local trend for the number of condos listed to jump in September, and this year saw an increase of 131%. However, the abundance of inventory didn’t spur increased activity. The number of condos going pending rose only 5%, and sale-to-list price ratio and median days on market held steady.
- The suburbs saw more listings, but not more activity. While the number of single family homes listed increased 58% and condos jumped 71%, competition cooled as sale-to-list price ratio held steady. Previous years have seen a similar trend as the fall arrives, and it’s likely this year will continue to cool as the season progresses.
See previous months’ highlights
Competition report
Our research team analyzed the competition in select local areas.
Sale price
List price
Sale price compared to list price
Days on market
Number of properties listed
Number of properties pending sale
Metropolitan Boston data is for the city of Boston excluding 02119,02121,02124,02130,02126,02131,02136,02132; Cambridge; and Somerville.
Boston Suburbs data is for Malden, Medford, Quincy, Weymouth, Watertown, Brookline, Newton, Lexington, Winchester, Belmont, and Arlington.