An Average Boston Condo Now Costs Over $1 Million, Data Shows

MASSACHUSETTS — As this real estate covered last week, the housing market in Massachusetts is both expensive and stagnant.

According to The Warren Group, the 2023 median price for both condos and home sales is a record high.

There were fewer condos sold in Massachusetts — 19,199 — than in any year since 2012, while the median condo price rose to $510,000 from $488,550 in 2022, a 4.4 percent increase.

Single-family home sales fell to a 12-year low in 2023 when 40,828 homes were sold, a 22 percent decline from 2022 and the lowest mark since 2011.

The company's December data review also included a dive into the Greater Boston market, which reviewed the 139 towns located within the I-495 corridor.

The area followed the same trends as those across the state, with a nearly 24 percent decline in single-family home sales in 2023 compared to 2022 while the price of those homes increased from $695,000 in 2022 to $715,000 in 2023.

Condo sales were down 18 percent from 2022, with a total of 13,874 sold in 2023 compared to 16,967 in 2022. The median condo price in the area in 2023 rose to $599,000 compared to $579,696 in 2022.

For this week's column, Patch focused on home sales data from Boston, East Boston and South Boston to look into what the market looked like in 2023 in the state's biggest city.

Home Sales

In Boston proper, 35 homes were sold in 2023. It is also a 35 percent decline in sales from 2022, when 54 were sold.

However, the price for those homes didn't grow much compared to some other cities in the state. The median price for a home sold in 2023 was $3,525,000, up almost two percent from the 2022 median of $3,465,000.

East Boston saw 31 homes sold in 2023, down 13 percent from 2022 when 36 homes were sold. In welcome news for home buyers — but probably not sellers — the median price of homes in East Boston was actually cheaper in 2023 — $649,900 — than the 2022 mark of $685,500.

South Boston saw the steepest decline in the number of homes sold, with 43 moving off the market in 2023 compared to 69 in 2022, a drop of nearly 38 percent.

Like in East Boston, however, the home prices actually dipped below $1 million in 2023 — just barely at $999,000 — compared to the 2022 median price of $1,010,000.

Condo Sales

Condo sales in Boston proper, much like home sales, dropped in 2023. The city saw 1,542 units sold in 2023 compared to 1,850 in 2022, a nearly 17 percent drop.

Prices also rose, with the median condo sale price in Boston now slightly over $1 million — $1,003,000 to be exact — as opposed to $942,500 in 2022.

East Boston is much cheaper than that million-dollar mark, with the median 2023 price coming in at $625,000. Still, that's more expensive than the 2022 mark of $610,000.

East Boston also saw a steep decline in the number of condos sold in 2023, with 259 going off the market compared to 448 in 2022.

South Boston also saw a steep drop in the number of units sold, with 403 in 2023 compared to 598 in 2022.

To round out the trifecta, the price of condos in South Boston also increased from the 2022 mark of $793,000 to $830,000 in 2023.