The rental supply glut in Downtown Boston has received quite a bit of attention in the past 12 months. The pandemic caused a shift in demand for housing in Boston, and many Downtown neighborhoods went from being the hardest areas to find an apartment to the easiest seemingly overnight.
The challenges faced by the Boston housing market have been well documented in 2020. The pandemic has caused massive shifts in urban population distribution in metropolitan areas all across the country, and Boston is no exception. It effectively took one of the nation’s hottest real estate markets and caused it to come to a grinding halt as apartment vacancies soar all over the city.
In an article that cites real data and provides analysis, Beth Treffeisen of the Boston Sun reports on research by the Alliance of Downtown Civic Organizations and UMass researcher Mark Merante and states:
short-term units in Boston are constricting the supply of rental units, keeping rents in existing rental units artificially higher, and displacing residents.
An information session on The Beverly apartment complex will be held tonight at the Boston Public Library in Dudley Square, from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm. Read more.
Good news: Suffolk County (Boston, Revere, Chelsea, & Winthrop) leads the nation in the percentage of housing considered to be affordable to those in "extreme" poverty (earning no more than $28,300 for a family of four).
Bad news: Only 51 extremely low-income families out of every 100 in Suffolk County are able to access safe and affordable rental housing.
Source: Urban Institute, The Housing Affordability Gap For Extremely Low-Income Renters In 2013
A hearing is scheduled for the "Anti-Shadow Bill," Bill H.826, as submitted by Marty Walz and Byron Rushing. Set for Thursday, May 9, the public hearing for comments and input will be at 10:00am in State House Room A-1.
The first round of lottery assignments for students in Boston Public Schools went out last week. Some parents were overjoyed that their children would be going to the schools they preferred; others (probably, including the lady whose child didn't get into his first 9 choices) were faced with disappointment.
But, worry not, parents! You have another option - Simply move!
Walking up Tremont Street across from the Boston Common, earlier today, we came across an unusual occurrence, even in this economy: a downtown Boston real estate auction. It was taking place in front of The Grandview, a "luxury" (is there any other kind?) condominium building completed in 2004.
You find the most-interesting things in a barber shop.
Here are a couple photos of pages from the April 1925 issue of Real Estate News newspaper, "Dedicated to the Development and Welfare of Boston and New England and to those who Own, Occupy, Sell or Manage Real Estate".
On the cover is a story on plans to completely rehab an existing building on Newbury Street. The renovation did take place, as Bostonians know, as the property was the location of Kakas Furs fur for many years. In the left-hand corner of the page is a photo of the building as it existed circa 1925.
Inside the newspaper is a short article entitled "WHY BOXES REMAIN ON THE STREET" regarding trash receptacles in the Back Bay.
John Keith ponders the case of some couple that put their house up for auction, then refused an $830,000 bid as too far under their $1-million starting price:
... Dude, you've already received the right offer. If you want to sell your home anytime this year, or possibly, next year, take the $830,000. Your property isn't worth $1.25 million, it isn't worth $899,000. It's worth $830,000 - what someone was willing to pay you for it. ...
John Keith, a real-estate broker, is amazed to read a comment by the head of the Massachusetts Realtors Association that a recently announced 21% decline in single-home sales is no big deal:
... I'm not really sure how else to say it, but this guy's sure got a big set on him, doesn't he?
Tell me, David, how do you feel about that rain shower they had in New Orleans, last August?
It's a condo cat fight on the South Boston waterfront!
881 E. First St. doesn't like 9 W. Broadway:
... If you like Ct. Sq. Press/ 9 West Broadway but don't like the high price (or paying for a big advertising budget), the high common fees (& paying for a concierge you might never need or use), having to ante up $38K for parking (& having to wait going years to get it) and want a loft that is really in the Seaport (and not at the end of West Broadway's less than desirable neighborhood), then come visit us at 881. We're cooler. They're not and we know it! ...
Ari Ben Harav's Boston Realty News is heavy on news of new high-end condo projects.
Compare to:
Boston Real Estate Blog
Boston Real Estate Watch
In attending a meeting of one of Fort Hill's dueling neighborhood associations, eeka learns that there are two ways to buy a house - and one is a lot cheaper:
John Ford of Ford Realty has started a real-estate blog. Unlike some of his colleagues, Ford not only thinks we're in the midst of a housing bubble, he thinks it's about to burst:
Heard on TOTN this afternoon.
From RealEstateJournal:
The Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass./N.H., metropolitan area tops
the list as the region with the highest probability of experiencing a
housing-price decline. The area scored a 533 on PMI's Risk Index, indicating a
53.3% probability of weaker home prices in the next two years.That marks a big increase in risk for the New England hub. A
year ago, Boston's probability for home-price declines stood at 23.3%. The
area's problem "is that it has had strong home-price increases relative to poor
income growth," says Marco Van Akkeren, an economist at PMI.
John reads in the Globe that Suffolk-county foreclosures are up 50% and he gets worried:
I used mortgage101.com to get referred to some mortgage lenders. They all totally sucked and I ended up going with E-LOAN. I just got some survey from them about my experience, and here's my response:
Your brokers completely suck. I experienced the following brokers:
A complete snob who said I didn't qualify for any sort of mortgage with my $60K income and 730 credit score and who didn't seem to think "licensed mental health counselor" was a real job.
Someone who gave me a preapproval for 300K at 5% after a brief phonecall and no credit check.
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