The market data makes some interesting points this month. If you live in the Back Bay or South End, you’re seeing a sizable jump in the price/ft. but in Beacon Hill there was a large decrease. So if you were thinking about selling last year but were scared, don’t wait this one out because there are buyers out there and willing to pay more!

Back Bay 2010
3 Condo’s sold
Avg. Sale Price: $2,588,000
Avg. Price/Ft: $985.07

Back Bay 2009
5 Condo’s Sold
Avg. Sale Price: $1,345,900
Avg. Price/Ft: $836.83

Beacon Hill 2010
3 Condo’s Sold
Avg. Sale Price: $1,133,592
Avg. Price/Ft: $697.45

Beacon Hill 2009
3 Condo’s Sold
Avg. Sale Price: $3,483,333
Avg. Price/Ft: 1009.20

South End 2010
9 Condo’s Sold
Avg. Sale Price: $ $668,239
Avg. Price/ft: $618.63

South End 2009
7 Condo’s Sold
Avg. Sale Price: $564,143
Avg. Price/ft: $570.03

FP3 the newest loft building in the Seaport neighborhood is set to announcing any day that they have been given FHA approval. So what does this mean for you? Quite simply you can move into the newest building in the Seaport with a down payment as little as $12,000. This will certainly be a major boon to those first time buyers that are looking to buy a place in the city, but with only a few weeks left before the tax credit deadline they will have to move quickly. For those that are interested, FP3 does have 16 studio condos still available all priced from $319,000-$399,000.  To see what you can get for $12k take a look below:

For more information on FP3 take a look at our luxury building page. If you’re interested in scheduling a showing call 617-449-3642.

After doing some exhaustive research into what’s really happened to the Boston Condo Market for the past decade, we thought we’d release this little nugget of information for you. The best size condo to invest in from 2000-2009 in Back Bay was a studio. I know this probably catches quite a number of you off guard, with many thinking that buying a 1 bed would have been a good idea, but it was studios that gained the most value.

From 2000-2009 the price/sq.ft. for studio’s in Back Bay increased 87%! This was well above the next best investment, (1 beds) which came in at increase of 58%. The real loser so to speak for the decade was 3 beds or more which only increased 25% on price/sq. ft. basis.

The market data speaks for itself here. Condos in Boston’s top neighborhoods are moving and they are moving for more than last year. If you were thinking about selling last year but were scared, don’t wait this one out because there are buyers out there!

Back Bay 2010
15 Condo’s sold
Avg. Sale Price: $1,979,553
Avg. Price/Ft: $1137

Back Bay 2009
7 Condo’s Sold
Avg. Sale Price: $1,255,929
Avg. Price/Ft: $946

Beacon Hill 2010
4 Condo’s Sold
Avg. Sale Price: $453,000
Avg. Price/Ft: $694

Beacon Hill 2009
0 Condo’s Sold

South End 2010
12 Condo’s Sold
Avg. Sale Price: $542,042
Avg. Price/ft: $596

South End 2009
2 Condo’s Sold
Avg. Sale Price: $370,000
Avg. Price/ft: $523

We are proud to announce: Back Bay Realty Group is The Official Sponsor of Home Ownership for 2010. Our goal is to help as many people as possible get into the home of their dreams in 2010 and we’ve setup some great partnerships to make that happen. As part of our sponsorship we’ll be introducing new programs and information related to home buying and home ownership for all of our readers. In an effort to make the home buying process easier, we’ll be upgrading parts of our site, and introducing new features so that you can be more informed about the process.

Throughout the year we’ll be posting information on what’s going on in the market so future buyers are better educated on market conditions, and we’ll be doing a weekly home improvement tip. This will give you do it yourself types (myself included) a chance to make improvements to your current homes to make them more attractive in the market. Most importantly, we’ll also be posting information on how to sign up for Habitat for Humanity projects in your area, so that even if this is not the year for you to move into a new home, you can help someone else do it.

We can’t wait to see what this new year brings and we hope all of you do too!

As I mentioned in my last post there are a lot of new development condos on the market right now and some developers are getting desperate. The people behind the development at 100 Beacon, are now offering a free mini cooper with with every unit. The cheapest unit in this building has an asking price of a cool $2.1 million. I might be underestimating how the economy is going, but if you can spend $2.1 is a Mini Cooper really going to make a difference?

This is not the first time this has been tried in Boston. In 2007 the Macallen tried this same tactic, they gave away a Toyota Camry Hybrid with each condo sold. (They went with a hybrid car because it’s a green building.)  I’m sure this won’t be the last attempt by a developer to do this, but let me give some advice to those who are thinking about it. Pair the car and the building! The hybrid car with the green building makes sense, a Mini Cooper says your striving to be cool with a car that’s lost some of that cachet. If I were trying to be cool I’d toss in a smart car, it’s cheaper, more rare and will turn a lot more heads especially when you park it sideways.

Scarcity! That’s the buzzword luxury retailers across the country are trying to teach to consumers this year. Last year was a very different story, retailers had more merchandise than they knew what do with. This year that certainly won’t be the case. Retailers are learning that if you simply don’t offer more, customers are will to pay full price to get what’s out there. The New York Times even did a whole article on this idea.

Luxury retailers weren’t the only ones who forgot scarcity, luxury condo developers got stuck on this same train of thought. They forgot that part of what makes a luxury condo so expensive and attractive is the scarcity of them. They decided instead, to follow the philosophy of selling luxury to the masses. The only problem with this school of thought: a luxury good is no longer considered a luxury, when everyone can have one!

The condo market in downtown Boston is now flooded with “luxury” condos: 45 Province, W Residences, The Clarendon and the Bryant Back Bay just to name a few. As a result it’s looking more and more like, “The luxury condo has become the sad knockoff Chanel purse peddled along Canal Street.” *

To continue our fashion metaphor for a moment, this overstocking by developers means that just like the retailers, they too will be forced to have massive sales. Think of the recent auctions as the Black Friday Sales. (People know ahead of time that they are coming and they set the price for the remainder of the season.) The main difference between Black Friday Sales and recent auctions, this year the retailers aren’t restocking. The condo developers aren’t as lucky. Even if they sell half the units to get sales moving, they still have hundreds of condos left to sell.

So my take on all this, it’s going to be a long time before we sell out all these luxury buildings and this year it’s best to go shopping on Black Friday!

*Before I get all sorts of angry emails, I agree that some of the units in these buildings are truly stunning and incredible places. However, one must admit not all are on the same level. A condo with a stunning view of the brick wall less than 30 ft away should not be labeled a “luxury condo” just because it’s in the same building as the incredible penthouse.

That’s the question this article from the New York times asked over the weekend. In New York the Bachelor Pad maybe dead but in Boston I’d say it’s just down with the flu. (Not everyone everyone has it, but some people do and it’s not that bad.) I certainly have quite a few clients who updated their bachelor pads this year and some that just stayed put. A couple quit the lifestyle and moved in with their girlfriend, but even then they didn’t sacrifice like those in New York. The Clarendon, one of the most expensive rental buildings in Back Bay is currently out of 1 bed units and my guess is quite a few of those have been rented by single men. Still, I’ll put question out there, Bachelors of Boston are you downsizing this year?

The big news of the past week has been that Tom Brady has put his Back Bay condo up for sale. Rumor has it, he and Gisele are looking to move to Brookline now that they have a baby on the way. The stunning home that he used as his Boston residence is now on the market for $10.9 million. What’s so interesting about this, is that it’s the same list price his wife put her New York pad on for originally, only to sell it later on for a measly $4.5 million. The question is, which city will win this Real Estate War?

My money is on Boston! Tom has done well in the sale of his other units in this building and I’m betting he can find someone willing to pay at least the $4.6 million needed for the win. I won’t ignore the fact that many homes in this price range in Boston have had a hard time selling lately, but to own a piece of New England history I’m sure someone is willing to pay.

Let’s review what $10.9 million gets you by taking a look at the specs:

3 Bedrooms
3.5 Baths
5 Fireplaces
4 Garage Parking Spaces
1 Outdoor Space
The description reads: In an American Renaissance mansion, this contemporary PH is the pinnacle of 21st century living boasting unobstructed views of the Charles River and city skyline. This 5,000+ sq sf Duplex has 3+ beds, 3+ baths, 5 fireplaces, a stunning great room opening to the gourmet kitchen. Magnificent south facing living room, ultra-hi-tech media room, & master suite w/ an oversized his/her dressing room & a luxurious en-suite bath. Gym, 2 landscaped Private Decks, Doorman, Garage Parking for 4 cars & 1 outdoor space!

If you’re interested in buyers representation to view this property feel free to give us a call at 617-449-3642.

I read an interesting article on Boston.com over the weekend, entitled Real Estate Deadbeats. The article talks about people who were no longer paying their mortgage but not leaving the house either. The “stay don’t pay” idea is one thought that doesn’t occur to most people, since most people assume that you will be evicted as soon as you stop paying. The truth however is slightly more complicated.

The article talks about a company called You Walk Away, which helps people when they decide to stop paying their mortgage. They clue them into the fact that, even if no mortgage payments are made, a person still owns that property until the bank legally and officially takes it back through the foreclosure process or the house is sold to someone else. As one lawyer put it:

“The banks can’t force you out until they own the property. You own the property even if you are late in payments, have a notice of default filed or a notice of trustee sale. Nothing can be done until the property has been sold at auction or the banks take it back.”

The most common advice given when someone decides to do this is to save all of their mortgage money and pay off any other debts. Any extra money should be used when it comes time to rent. This brings me to a conversation I had yesterday with a bank director. When I asked him what he was seeing when people stopped paying, he said the average time it took for his bank to foreclose on a property was 12-18 months. That’s a lot of money for people to put aside for fixing their other debts.  I am by no means recommending this route for those people who are underwater, in fact I would consider this an absolute last resort; but it is an interesting route that more and more people are taking.