Cambridge, Davis Square buck a down market. But can it last?
Condo and home prices have been remarkably stable over the past few years in such perennial hot spots like Cambridge and Davis Square, even as real estate market has gone haywire elsewhere.
There have been minor blips up and down, but no big comedown from the market's peak back in 2005, when the real estate bubble was just about to burst. Just a steady march upward over the years.
Judging from the $1 million-plus condo for sale in Davis Square I just spotted online, some sellers still believe they are back in the time of easy money and silly prices. OK, so it's new and in the heart of Davis Square, but it's a condo.
So is this just another mini-bubble waiting to burst, with the double dip in real estate prices that is sweeping the country finally bringing a well-deserved comeuppance to all those cocky sellers who so far have escaped unscathed?
There are certainly some small warning signs that all might not be well in paradise.
Cambridge home prices are back down to 2009 levels, having jumped last year with the home buyer tax credit. And gcbma has noted that the number of homes and condos sold at a loss in Somerville has risen steadily to about 43 percent, up from roughly nil during the bubble years.
Yet Cambridge and Davis Square also have some inherent advantages that say, Natick, Franklin or Quincy just can't compete with.
For one thing, these are really fun, interesting and centrally located places to live. Moreover, there's a cachet will always draw a steady stream of buyers to places like Davis Square as opposed to respectable but thoroughly lunch bucket cities like Quincy.
And while the national economy struggles to get back on its feet, Cambridge is at the center of a mini-boom, with tech and biotech firms expanding rapidly.
Still, even if I had the cash, you wouldn't catch me shelling out a million to live in Davis Square.
Sure, it's fun place to visit, but that just seems foolish.
