Charlestown median sales price for the 1st Q of 2009 is down 6.51%. Median sales price comparing 1st Q results from 2003 -2009 2003 – $371,000.00 2004 – $392,500.00 +5.80% 2005 – $393,950.00 +0.37% 2006 – $436,775.00 +10.87 2007 – $459,000.00 +5.09% 2008 – $422,500.00 -7.95% 2009 – $395,000.00 -6.51%

1st Quarter avg price per sq ft – Beacon Hill Year 2003 – $576.07 2004 – $620.44 // 7.70% 2005 – $680.31 // 9.65% 2006 – $695.79 // 2.28% 2007 – $687.99 // -1.12% 2008 – $720.97 // 4.79% 2009 – $683.63 // -5.18% Source: LINK 2009 1st Q report

Renowned Morton’s Steakhouse is hitting the rocks – it’s charging an extra $2.50 for a cocktail with ice. (I’m not making this up) Source: Hard times for Morton’s Steak House

Alex Pollack reckons finance professionals did believe housing prices could fall, but just not on a national level. The data used to stress test mortgage assets was based on the experience of Texas and other oil-patch states in the 1970s and 80s. It provided an instance of a housing bubble that led to falling house [...]

David Kellermann, Freddie Mac’s acting chief financial officer and senior vice president, was found dead Wednesday morning in an apparent suicide, according to news reports. Read More

I just “randomly” selected three neighborhoods to find out how sales price per sq ft this year compared to last year. Back Bay condos 4/22/07 – 4/22/08 Price per sq ft – $750.00 Back Bay condos 4/22/08 – 4/22/09 Price per sq ft – $839.00 Brookline condos 4/22/07 – 4/22/08 Price per sq ft – [...]

Home prices in most of the U.S. have fallen back into line with what the typical household can afford to pay in most of the U.S., according to a new study Read More: Wall Street Journal

If I had to pick my favorite paragraph from today’s New York Times it would be: There are reasons though, to think that prices may be on the verge of stabilizing. Relative to fundamentals, like household incomes and rents, houses nationwide now appear to be overvalued by only about 5 percent. You could make an [...]

Hello Boston Real Estate Bloggers…I am very excited about this new opportunity I have been given as a contributor to Boston Real Estate blog. I look forward to offering you my insights as to the market, buying and selling “do’s and don’ts”, and maybe even a funny story here and there about my day to [...]

Economy-watchers are searching for evidence that the housing market is starting to hit bottom. And in recent months, there has been some evidence that the end of the great housing bust may be near. This week offers a reality check, with three key pieces of housing-related data coming out. But to interpret the data, it [...]