This morning, the Warren Group released July sales data which shows prices of single-family homes and condos dropped again.
Offsetting this barrage of bad news, is this from the New York Times:
Consumer outlook up, housing bottom may be near
Americans felt better about the economy in August, as a barometer of sentiment posted the biggest boost in [...]

The Globe had a great article in yesterday’s paper about converting your home from oil to gas heat.
Philip Giudice, commissioner of the state’s Department of Energy Resources says, “Massachusetts residents who heat with oil spent about $2,345 last winter, while natural gas users paid about $1,593.”
… [Commissioner Philip] Giudice said “homeowners must weigh the [...]

Undoubtedly, the number 1 search on my site right now is for information on the DNA Lofts, in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood.

From the developer:
DNA Lofts at 944 Dorchester Ave., a truly unique conversion of an old printing press into modern and creative live-in loft spaces.
The 3 story building consists of 60 residential units with 2 elevators, [...]

From this week’s Boston Courant, by Galen Moore:
The MBTA plans to adorn large outdoor structures like brick ventilation towers at Back Bay and Hynes Convention Center with banner ads …
… The new banner ads range in size from 20 by 22 feet on the ventilation building across from the Hynes Convention Center to 180 by [...]

I nearly choked on my Cheerios when I read this in last week’s Economist:
Until recently, few Americans went abroad for medical treatment. Over the past decade, however, that has begun to change. Americans seeking medical care are increasingly making trips far from home, often at their own expense—not just short hops to Caracas for a [...]

Things are looking up for the down-in-the-dumps Tremont Street stretch between my house and Sister Sorel’s.
Taped to the door of the old Thai Village restaurant:

(No update on the rumor that a Dunkin’ Donuts will be opening on the site of the Bostonian Market. The owner says “absolutely not” but we’ll see.)

You might think that the foreclosure crisis is mainly hitting innocent people taken advantage of by unscrupulous lenders.
Truth is, the reality is a lot more complex.
in an article in this week’s Dorchester Reporter, Chris Lovett reports that many homes in Boston’s Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods appear to have been bought by speculators and flipped for [...]

Thomas M Menino, has done a lot to help the lower- and middle-class in the city during the 15 years he has been mayor (and the four months he was “acting” mayor).
His staff does him no favors, then, when they say things that are blatantly untrue; or, at the very least, misleading.
From yesterday’s Boston Globe:
The [...]

The following information is from the local MLS database as of August 23, 2008, compared to (August 16, 2008) (and August 25, 2007).
Total # of condos for sale in the city of Boston: 1,999 (2,062) (2,293)
Average # of days on market: 136 (135) (127)
Number of condos sold (closed) over past 30 days: 474 (461) (536)
Average [...]

Back in the halcyon days that were 2004-2006, many buyers who should have known better took out what are called “option-ARM” loans.
As you know, and as Wikipedia describes, an option-ARM is “typically a 30-year ARM that initially offers the borrower four monthly payment options: a specified minimum payment, an interest-only payment, a 15-year fully amortizing [...]