Midtown’s luxury condo market comes of age

Boston Luxury Condos for Sale in 2024

Midtown’s luxury condo market comes of age

Laura Ahmes-Gollinger of the Collaborative Cos., via Curbed Boston, has pulled together some excellent year-end numbers about the downtown luxury condo market (and they’re mostly, if not all, condo sales in those areas, obviously).

There’s the obvious: From 2013 to 2014, sales were down in all the neighborhoods that make up the downtown, 3,481 sales to 2,948, with the exception of a small bump in sales in Seaport (which is still building lots of condos these days). * This continues with the downward trend in overall sales, despite high demand for housing in Boston.

Prices were also up in all the downtown neighborhoods, from a median $777,200 to $864,200, except for a small decline in the West End.

But what caught our eye is that Midtown was the #2 neighborhood in terms of prices at the end of 2014 ($1.34 million) and in square feet ($953). Obviously, to no surprise, Back Bay was No. 1 in both categories.

OK, we know there’s a lot of new luxury condos and apartment buildings that have gone up in the general Midtown area in recent years, driving up prices. And, of course, the district includes the Ritz condos.

But think about it: When someone asks, “What are the most expensive neighborhoods to buy in Boston?” you don’t usually respond “Midtown!” It doesn’t quite roll off the tongue that quickly, or leap to mind, for that matter.

Still, it’s definitely a neighborhood in transition, as both new luxury-living buildings and student dorms are built in the area. It’s been an impressive transformation, especially considering how close it used to be to the once dreaded Combat Zone area.

* Note: The downtown neighborhoods include South Boston, West End, Leather District, Seaport, Fenway, North End, Financial District, South End, Waterfront, Beacon Hill, Midtown and Back Back.

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