housing prices

Nope, it's not an oxymoron. Turns out the mega-luxe project on Boylston Street actually has several apartments to rent for under $2,000 a month, for which they'll be holding a lottery. John Keith has some details.

Redfin compiles charts showing the discount off list price in selected Boston Zip codes between Sept. 15 and Nov. 15. Prices are most heavily discounted in Revere and least discounted in Mattapan (Mattapan?). Is that because nobody wants to move to Revere or because Revere sellers have an unrealistic view of what the market will bear these days? Or something else?

The Boston Condo Guy reports a condo at the Mandarin Oriental just came on the market at $16.9 million.

So if you'd like an 8,000-square-foot condo with floor-to-ceiling views to watch the gentle flickering of bonfires lit by the rabble as they build Hoovervilles on the Common, you better hurry; at prices like this, it's sure to go quickly.

Anthony Giacalone reports the market has been "severely hurt." Triple deckers that once might have gone for as much as $650,000 are now on the market for as little as $380,000.

Given our heavy involvement in the financial sector, Cosmo Catalano wonders if this weekend's meltdown will hit Boston - and its tonier neighborhoods with the still increasing home prices.

Chris Lovett continues his exploration of the shark-infested triple-decker/condo market in Dorchester:

... A review of more than 200 conversions over the last two years in Boston - mostly in Dorchester and Roxbury - shows more than 100 foreclosure filings against owners who bought more than one unit, sometimes in the same building. Names that appear as unit buyers with mortgage trouble sometimes turn up later as investors converting more units, or as people with power of attorney to represent other buyers.

Earlier:
Triple-decker condo flipping still going on in Dorchester.

Federal stats show inflation in greater Boston running at 6.3%, higher than in other large metropolitan areas. Blame housing and heating-oil prices, Associated Press reports. Only bright note? Food prices increased at a slower rate here. Lobster, anyone?

Meanwhile, our rich get richer (not that being rich is a bed of roses, mind you), while our poor get poorer.

Chris Lovett examines some interesting real-estate deals of late.

They're down (well, they are up in a few places).

Sharpest one-month year-to-year drop in Massachusetts home prices since 1990.

This chart (detailed here), would probably be good news for home buyers, if only they could get new mortgages - or sell their current homes.

Outside of the Red Line corridor, the prices of Dorchester housing units - especially multi-family properties - are crashing, the Dorchester Reporter reports. The mortgage crisis may not be the only reason:

... A less examined reason for the sinking market could be a decrease in fraud brought about by increased media and governmental focus on the sub-prime lending crisis. Several properties previously detailed in the Reporter appear to have been sold under curious circumstances. ...

Apparently, you might want to bring a tape measure when you check out Brookline condos (scroll down the page a bit).

The Boston Condo Guy reports:

... We talk with a growing number of Europeans each week who are interested in buying Boston investment property, or a Boston vacation home in one of America’s most historic cities. Europeans recognize that downtown Boston real estate will always hold its value, and the best time to "get in" is when their currency allows them to do so at a discount.

Cosmo Catalano surveys the current offerings around Louisburg Square.

On myDedham, Brian compares the sale prices of the first 13 houses sold in town this year with the values listed in town assessing records. Even taking out the outliers, the average is 18% less than assessed values.

Southie state rep to Allston/Brighton: You suck.

Allston blogger to Southie state rep: Knock it off.

Aaron Weber adds real estate to the list of things he can't expect the Globe to cover well, after reading a piece in the Sunday real-estate section about foreclosures in the two cities, which is accompanied by a large map that shows the problem is far, far worse in another city:

... In Lawrence, the foreclosure rate is nearly double that of even the most hard-hit areas in the Route 2 West corridor. You want to write about a housing crisis, and you ignore Lawrence? Is that more of a Herald town or something? ...

He also uses the Globe's own stats to ponder why the story didn't examine the possibility that the relatively high foreclosure rates in northern Worcester were due to fraud rather than a financial crisis.

Redfin, an online real-estate venture, this week fired up Redfin Sweet Digs Boston, a group effort by four "real estate addicts," to cover the local real-estate market (really, can I not come up with another phrase to describe "real estate"?).

Compare to the Boston Condo and Luxury Real Estate Blog, Brookline Connection, and, of course, the granddaddy of them all, John Keith's Boston Real Estate Blog (other local real-estate blogs I'm missing?).

Amy Derjue poses the question after reading a report on a 600% (!) increase in Massachusetts since 2005 and then following that up with a BostonNow report that the Massachusetts economy is doing just fine.

The Boston Condo Guy reports on new prices at the Claflin Building Residences at Twenty Beacon, a four-unit condo development on Beacon Hill (hmm, do they have a shuttle to the Mall at Chestnut Hill?). After being on the market for several months last year, none of the $2-million+ units sold. Now three of of the four units are back on the market with reduced prices. But the penthouse, despite going unsold last year at $4.4 million, is back on the market at a higher price.

Shirley Kressel discusses competing property-relief bills now in the Legislature from Deval Patrick and Tom Menino.

Boston Condo Guy reports that $15-million condo in the Back Bay has been taken off the market after 200 days without a sale. Instead, it's been re-split into two units, one of which is now available for a mere $7 million.

Chris Lovett ponders some recent prices for three-decker condos that would have been outrageous two years ago, never mind in today's less heated market - and why it may not be a good thing for the neighborhood.