My numbers show a 25% decline, in sales volume, year-to-year, for September, in Boston.

Others have numbers somewhat similar, according to Scott Van Voorhis, in the Herald:

[A]verage downtown Boston condo prices dropped to $430,473 during the third quarter, down from $438,750 during the same period in 2005, said John Ford, head of Ford Realty, citing preliminary numbers from a local data service.

Sales dropped during the same period to 1,261, down from 1,500 during the third quarter of 2005. Time on market, in turn, increased to an average of 97 days, up from 58 last year, said Ford, citing early numbers found on the Mulitiple Listing Service.

“It’s a mixed bag,” Ford said. “It appears more and more likely it will be a soft landing and not a crash.”

Okay. Then Mr. Van Voorhis pulls a fast one (again).

In deluxe Midtown, which includes the posh Ritz-Carlton towers, the number of condos sold dropped to less than half of last year’s 101.

That's accurate. But, why did the number of sales drop?

Well, last year, all the units at Lafayette Lofts closed. As did sales at 3 Avery, the discount Ritz Carlton units. Fifty-four units, in fact. Which, if you remove from the equation, means just about as many unit sold this year, as last.

Complete story: Condo sales keep sliding down - By Scott Van Voorhis, The Boston Herald