Heres August 2014s Monthly Multi-family Housing Activity Report from the Greater Boston Association of Realtors.

(Multi-family housing activity comparing August 2013 to August 2014)

Low interest rates and improving job market continue to keep buyer demand high, but the continued shortage of homes for sale resulted in a drop of closed sales in July 2014.

Heres July 2014s Monthly Multi-family Housing Activity Report from the Greater Boston Association of Realtors.

(Multi-family housing activity comparing July 2013 to July 2014)

Here's an interesting report from late last year produced by the Boston Redevelopment Authority that details the history and current state of Boston housing stock.

This latest Market Rewind report contain detailed data for the condo and single-family home markets for the second quarter of 2014 in GBAR's region 1 area.

For homebuyers relocating to metro Boston its always a shock to discover how expensive housing costs are in our area. For whatever reason real estate markets like San Francisco, New York and Seattle always seem to grab the headlines when it comes to surging prices and housing market performance.

Low interest rates and improving job market kept buyer demand high, but shortage of homes for sale resulted in a drop of closed sales in June 2014. Prices continued to move up because demand for available homes to buy outpaced supply.

Closed sales were up +5.7% Median prices were up +13.3% Inventory of Homes for Sale were down -23.6% Months Supply of Home for Sale were down -26.3% Days on market until sale were down -24.3% Percentage of original list price received were up +1.5% New Listings were up +0.3%

Apartment rents vary greatly around Boston. This table shows median apartment rents relative to size and location so you know what you can expect to pay.

Here's May 2014's Monthly Indicators report from the Greater Boston Association of Realtors. See the latest Boston real estate market trends.