An update on the Boston luxury condo building 45 Province Street as of August 21, 2009.
Number of condos sold: 14
Average sales price: $1,542,589
Median sales price: $1,427,000
Average price per sq. ft.: $1,043
Average days on the market: 294
My thoughts: ????????

Resmark, the marketing company for the Boston Seaport District condo building FP3, has begun to drop asking prices on a few condos that have been on the market for over 160 days.
FP3 Boston condo price reductions:
FP #203 original asking price $349,000.00. Today’s asking price $329,000.00
FP #505 original asking price $599,000.00. Today’s asking price $519,000.00
FP #218 [...]

So far, auto buyers in the U.S. have signed contracts to trade in 358,851 clunkers for new vehicles, stimulated in large part by government rebates of up to $4,500.
AP reports that most of the trade ins have been pickups/SUVs. And what are they driving off the lots in exchange?
1. Toyota Corolla
2. Honda Civic
3. Ford Focus
4. [...]

In a Banker & Tradesman article earlier this summer, mortgage brokers and appraisers complained about new rules that were forcing consumers to pay more for property appraisals and also hurting local appraisers’ business and the fees they charge.
Some Realtors and homebuyers and sellers have shared nightmare stories about appraisers who aren’t familiar with [...]

It’s a tenants market. Boston-area landlords are dealing with a glut of vacant apartments:
Boston apartments presently avail – 1,044
Last year at this time – 535
Back Bay number of avail apartments – 142
Same time last year – 49
Beacon Hill number of avail apartments – 63
Same time last year – 12
Read more from today’s Boston Herald including [...]

Coldwell Banker Real Estate Surveys 1,000 Men and Women to Discover Gender Differences in the Home-Buying Process
Below are some key highlights from the Coldwell Banker Real Estate study:
Women may be inclined to make up their mind more quickly than men …
– When asked how long it took before they knew their home [...]

A few years ago buyers could act as impulsively as they wanted, reports The New York Times: if buyers changed their mind, they could always sell at a profit. But in today’s market, many buyers have cold feet, “buying a home is more psychologically demanding, fraught with conflict and confusion.” For buyers, especially those without [...]

Here are a few highlights from the July 2009 Real Estate Agent Survey.
The low end of the market is picking up driven by foreclosures, first-time buyers, and investors. Prices have fallen to the point where buying is often cheaper than renting, and the government’s $8,000 first-time-homebuyer gift is helping many people jump in. Investors [...]

Earlier this week, one of the largest mortgage brokers in the US shut its doors – not all that uncommon in today’s marketplace. But what was unusual was the candor of the CEO when addressing the challenges of the mortgage broker business model.
“With everything that is going on in the industry, I feel the broker [...]

A roofing company claims it is still owed more than $326,000 for its role in building the luxury condos at the Natick mall.

Silktown Roofing Inc. of Manchester, Conn., filed a lien notice in the federal bankruptcy case for General Growth Properties Inc., the Chicago company that owns the Natick Collection and adjacent residences.
In the court [...]