Boston’s real estate market has been one of the fastest growing housing markets in the country over the past decade. Median sale prices have steadily increased by near double-digit margins since 2015 thanks to a rapidly growing local population and a shortage of single-family homes. As a result, homes for sale in Boston tend to buy quickly when they come on the market.
The median number of days on the Boston real estate market is 75 days over the past 12 months. This means that the average sale in Boston from the time the announcement hits the market to the time the close occurs is approximately 2.5 months. That’s more than 20 days longer than the national median days on market, which is 53.5 days over the same period.
If we break down that same number by neighborhood, we can see where homes stay on the market the longest in Boston compared to others. Properties tend to sell very quickly in Cambridge (61 days), Medford (61 days) and Roslindale (62 days) compared to other areas. There are 11 neighborhoods where the median days on market is less than 70 days:
| Piece | Median days on market |
| Brighton | 69 |
| charlestown | 69 |
| Hyde Park | 68 |
| Mission Hill | 67 |
| Jamaica plain | 65 |
| Somerville | 64 |
| West Roxbury | 64 |
| Quincy | 64 |
| Roslindale | 62 |
| Medford | 61 |
| Cambridge | 61 |
In terms of longest median days on market, Fort Hill tops the charts with 151 days on market. It is important to note that Fort Hill does not see a large number of real estate transactions. There have only been 42 residential properties sold in Fort Hill in the past 12 months, and there are only 6 currently active homes for sale in Fort Hill. With such limited sales numbers, it’s easy to skew the median if a small number of properties have taken a long time to sell.
Downtown, East Boston and Seaport also experience longer real estate sales cycles than other neighborhoods, at 110, 110 and 104 median days on market respectively. There are 8 total neighborhoods in Boston where the median days on market is over 90:
| Piece | Median days on market |
| fort hill | 151 |
| Downtown | 111 |
| East of Boston | 110 |
| Seaport | 104 |
| Chinese district | 101 |
| west end | 93 |
| Longwood | 93 |
| North end | 93 |
Interestingly, with the exception of Fort Hill, most of these areas are located in central Boston, close to downtown, and have much higher median sale prices than most areas of Boston.
Despite the competitive housing market, Boston’s median days on the market aren’t as short as some might expect. This may be due to higher than average listing prices in Boston due to seller confidence. Either way, these longer selling cycles give buyers leeway to negotiate lower prices than what is on sale.
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