A new downtown restaurant, Stoddard’s Fine Food and Ale located at 50 Temple Street had plans to open November 17th as a private men’s club/restaurant.
Guess what? The ACLU and the Massachusetts chapter of the National Organization of Women (Mass NOW) had a problem with that.
The new downtown restaurant has now decided to open its [...]

The following is for the period ending October 31, 2009 compared to (October 24, 2009).
Units on market: 1,977 (1,988)
Average days on market: 128 (128)
Median price: $415,000 ($405,000)
Average price: $689,883 ($683,034)
Price changes, last thirty days: 530 (502)
Average price change: -4.27% (-4.02%)
Average $ price change: -$23,023 (-$22,412)
Under agreement: 301 (287)
Average days on market: 116 (107)
Sold (closed), last [...]

The average Cambridge condo sales prices are up from last year.
8/1/09 – 10/31/09
Number of Cambridge condo sales – 197
Average Cambridge condo sales price – $473,418.00
Number of days on the market – 73.90
Average price per sq ft – $430.00
———————————————–
8/1/08 – 10/31/08
Number of Cambridge condo sales – 229
Average Cambridge condo sales price – $465,605.00
Number of days on [...]

Cambridge real estate agent Liz Bolton politely objects to real estate tracker Zillow.com’s methodology for determining the best candy-rich Halloween towns.
Of course density of homes matter, she says. But she adds: “Aim for the neighborhoods with lots of decorations outside – spider webs, door decals, etc. – those will be your Halloween hotspots.”
Ford Realty, [...]

Wonder what’s going on behind the banking scenes?
The BBJ has a story on the struggling Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, which the paper describes as a key source of funding for area lenders. The story gives a small peek into how complex things are right now.
The bank is apparently in good fundamental shape. [...]

Ugh.
The rest of the nation may have come out of recession last quarter, causing minor celebrations on Wall Street yeserday.
But Massachusetts was still in its own recession last quarter.
The big question is: What happened? Wasn’t the state supposed to be in better economic position than the rest of the nation?
It’s only one quarter. Some [...]

The state isn’t getting much bang for its federal stimulus buck.
Gov. Deval Patrick announced yesterday that the $1.9 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money he’s spent so far has “created or retained” 23,533 jobs.
That’s $80,737 per job over just seven months.
My thoughts: Perhaps I was too tough on the homebuyer tax credit. Compared [...]

From the Banker & Tradesman:
National apartment developer Equity Residential reported a $43.7 million drop in the third quarter, posting net income of $143.4 million for 2009 compared to Q3 2008 income of $187.1 million – a decline of 23.4 percent.
Equity Residential, which has a Massachusetts presence, said the drop was due to a 3.9 percent [...]

A break down of condo sales from 10/21/09 – 10/28/09 for the entire city of Boston.
$200,000 and under — 10 sales
$201,000 – $300,000 –10 sales
$301,000 – $400,000 –7 sales
$401,000 – $500,000 –5 sales
$501,000 – $600,000 — 2 sales
$601,000 – $700,000 — 3 sales
$701,000 – $800,000 — 2 sales
$801,000 – $900,000 –1 sales
$901,000 – 1,000,000 – [...]

Good morning, and have I got news for you on this last Thursday of October.
The American economy grew last quarter. It really did. The Commerce Department reports that gross domestic product — the sum of all goods and services — expanded from July to September at an annual rate of 3.5 percent. The new GDP [...]