The Standard & Poors / Case-Shiller real estate index reported that that Boston metropolitan area condo prices rose 62.5% between January 2000 and August 2011.

Case-Shiller estimates that LA prices are 74% higher than in January 2000, San Francisco’s are 35% higher, Chicago’s are 15% higher, and New York City condo prices have doubled what they were in January 2000.

Greater Boston condo prices reached their zenith in October 2005 when they were 83.68% higher than January 2000. Since October 2005, it’s estimated that Boston condo values have dropped 11%.

In comparison, Los Angeles condo values are down 40% from their high, San Francisco values are down 32%, Chicago values are down 28%, and New York values are down 11%, according to Case-Shiller.

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Above, 261 Marlborough Street #10, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts. Betsy Herald of The Charles Realty is the listing agent.

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Above, 14 Hereford Street #1, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts. Shira Steinberg of Keller Williams Realty is the listing agent.

Measured in percentages, Boston had about a 6.3% unemployment rate, the latest data available. Only Washington, D.C. did better, with a rate around 6.1%. Las Vegas has a rate over 14%, with Detroit second at about 13%.

Nearby New York is around 8% while San Francisco’s near 10%.

Below, changes to the metro-Boston unemployment rate during the past five years.

Well, no. Easy lending criteria is what got us into this economic mess (well, partially). Sometimes, the banks lent too much money to people buying homes that are now worth less (or, much less) than they were just several years ago. So, the banks are much more careful about how much money they will give a borrower in order to buy a home.

The home appraiser is supposed to be independent, non-biased. I’ve found the majority of appraisers to be so. What I have found to be a problem, however, is that many appraisers here in Boston are used to appraising homes in the suburbs, so aren’t educated or sophisticated enough to estimate the value of a condominium accurately. The appraiser might look at comparable properties that are in completely different neighborhoods than the condo is in, or might compare a newly-constructed condo with one in a traditional townhouse.

Although the appraisal process is pretty much cut-and-dry and straight-forward, there are some simple ways you can make your home look its best and add a bit of value to the home appraiser’s estimate.

The Wall Street Journal has ten tips to increase the value during your home appraisal. There’s a couple of simple tips, such as cleaning up your property, locking up your pets during the appraisal, doing some painting to make it look fresh. They also recommend having a folder of renovations and repairs with costs included. And, most importantly (and your real estate agent should do this for you), you should have a list of comparable properties that have recently sold in your neighborhood, to help the home appraiser understand the current state of the local real estate market.

Please contact me for more information on these listings and to inquire about my services as a buyer’s agent.

Above, 56 Commonwealth Ave #41, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts. Robert Cohen of Boston Realty Advisors is the listing agent.

This comes in as “interesting”.

Trulia did a study that purports to show a difference in behaviors of male and female real estate agents.

Supposedly, male real estate agents have more listings than female agents, while female real estate agents list their properties for sale at higher prices.

In Massachusetts, they say, there’s a 23% discrepancy between list prices by male and female real estate agents. Meanwhile, the typical male real estate agents has 5% more listings than your average female real estate agent.

The discrepancy in number of listings is interesting for another reason; nationwide (and, presumably, here in Massachusetts), the number of female real estate agents is higher than the number of male real estate agents.

There’s so many factors at work here, so who knows. Perhaps more women than men are working as part-time agents, so they have fewer listings? Maybe sellers are sexist, and prefer listing with men? Maybe men take on more listings than they should – being either greedy or just short-sighted?

Regarding the higher price – that’s list price, not sales price. Which raises the question – do female real estate agents list properties for higher prices and sell at higher prices, or do their listings have to come down by more than the male real estate agents’ properties in order to sell?

Using MLSPIN data provided and collected from third-party sources, I see that there were 242 condos and single-family homes sold during the past six months for more than $1 million. Of these, 72 were sold for more than $2 million, and eight for more than $5 million. Four homes sold for more than $8 million. A single-family home at 20 Louisburg Square sold for $11.5 million and a condominium in the Mandarin Oriental at 776 Boylston Street sold for $13.2 million (another sold for $12.2 million).

There are currently 287 homes for sale for more than $1 million. This includes 69 single-family homes and 218 condominiums. Of the 287 homes, 112 are priced at more than $2 million. Twenty-one are listed for more than $5 million. Six are priced at $10 million or more. Currently, there are two single-family homes listed for more than $15 million, This includes a $15.9 million listing at 15 Commonwealth Ave and a $23 million property at 306 Dartmouth Street, the Ames-Webster mansion.

Please contact me for more information on high-end condo and single-family home sales in Boston, to discuss ways in which I can help you as a buyer’s agent, and for advice on listing your high-end home for sale.

Above, 56 Beacon Street, listed at $12,500,000. Jeannemarie Conley of Otis & Ahearn is the listing agent.

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Above, 327 Commonwealth Ave #3, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts. Tracey Smith of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is the listing agent.

The developer was only able to sell 15 of its 57 units during the past several years so he decided to hold an auction, which took place last night.

According to a Banker & Tradesman article, 15 of the 28 units that went up for auction were sold. The developer stopped the auction when bids started dropping after the first couple of units were sold (for more than 60% of final auction list prices).

According to B&T, six units were sold post-auction.

The remaining units, which I estimate to be 21 units left for sale, will be listed the traditional way.

For information on individual unit sales prices and for private tours of the DNA Lofts, please contact me.