Condo sales in Boston drop off

Sales of condos in the 12 core markets of Boston, from the North End to the Back Bay, the South End to South Boston, plunged 22.3 percent in the first quarter of this year, while median prices declined nearly 1 percent, to $475,000, according to the Listing Information Network Inc., a real estate firm.

"It's a huge decline" in sales, said Debra Taylor Blair, president of Listing Information Network. "Downtown is slowing down," she said.