The Greater Boston real estate market is recovering from the toll taken by the Great Recession, but it still has a ways to go.
Many potential sellers seem to be waiting on the sidelines, hoping the market will return to peak levels or higher.
That puts potential buyers — many of whom are looking to buy rather than continue to pay exorbitant Hub rents — in a difficult position because inventories are limited.
Prices are rising due to a limited housing supply, but a robust, healthy market may still be a season or two away.
To get an idea of how the market is shaping up, let’s look at data from three popular Boston suburbs. This snapshot of Arlington, Brookline and Cambridge stats gives us the ABC’s as we try to understand where the Hub housing market is headed.
In Arlington, available homes for sale are down 31 percent to 29 properties compared to the same time last year.
The median home price is $349,000, up from $326,950 last year.
Time on the market is down to an average of 65 days, compared to 80 days in 2012.
Single-family inventory in Arlington is down 57 percent compared to last year to only 14 homes currently on the market.
The median price of a single-family in Arlington is $425,000 compared to $544,000 last year, mainly due to the low inventory available.
Arlington’s condo inventory is also down 38 percent compared to last year, with only 61 units available for sale.
The median price of a condo is $379,000, compared to $439,000 in 2012, again mainly due to low inventory and no listings over the $900,000 mark.
Brookline’s housing inventory is down 25 percent compared to last year with 118 properties on the market.
The median home price is up 42 percent to $1,200,000 mainly due to several trophy properties on the market above the $5 million mark.
It also is taking less time to sell a home with days on market down to 103 from 137.
The condo market in Brookline is down 50 percent to 47 properties on the market compared to last year. The median price for a condo is up 6 percent, to $565,000.
Brookline’s single-family inventory is actually up 20 percent compared to last year with 56 homes on the market.
The availability of homes is up across all price points in Brookline with 13 properties listed at $5 million and above compared to four homes in that range last year. The result is a median home price that has jumped from $1,795,000 to $2,297,000 as of this month.
In Cambridge, the housing inventory is down 8 percent compared to 2012.
There are 106 single-family homes and condos available. Listing times haven’t changed much: it is taking 106 days to sell a home now, compared to 116 days a year ago.
Jennifer Athas, a licensed real estate broker, can be reached by email at heraldhotproperty@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenAthas.