13 Responses to “The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde market” »»

1. Rich
   Comment by Rich | 10/20/09 at 10:16 am

   I was just checking out the realtytrac.com Web site and I was surprised to see how many foreclosures are now happening in “good” neighborhoods. For example, there is one pre-foreclosure on Rutland in the South End and condo at 88 Kingston in Mid-town. There is also a single-family house buying foreclosed down the street from where I use to live in Brookline.

   Really depressing is how much a factor the FHA has become in real estate market. According to the WSJ real estate blog, 59% of new home buyers are now getting mortgages backed by the FHA. At the same time, FHA default rates are soaring. And the FHA isn’t being very selective about the brokers they do business with according to an audit report.

   Yikes, I need a drink also…..

2. megan
   Comment by megan | 10/20/09 at 2:33 pm

   I just looked myself. The number of pre-foreclosures and foreclosures in both the Back Bay and South End is really surprising. I’ve not read much about this.

   Foreclosures:
   02118 has 48 listed
   02116 has 45 listed

3. John Ford
   Comment by John Ford | 10/20/09 at 3:02 pm

   Megan. are you trying to cause trouble? lol

4. megan
   Comment by megan | 10/20/09 at 5:20 pm

   Hah, no, not all. In fact I was truly surprised when I looked at the map with the number of flags indicating troubled properties. I was thinking that there would be maybe 10 or so in the whole area. I’ve read nothing about this anywhere. I thought this was mostly happening in Dorchester and other parts of the country.

5. Rich
   Comment by Rich | 10/20/09 at 5:24 pm

   Yikes. Three condo units at One Charles are in pre-foreclosure. One valued at $1.9M. Cheaper units in Sowa are also in pre-foreclosure. Also a few units at Channel Center and one unit at the Ritz.

6. condobuyer
   Comment by condobuyer | 10/20/09 at 6:07 pm

   You guys made me search for some too…I came across the same One Charles and channel center ones too! I know one just sold at the Intercontinental and is in the registry now. I believe Folio might have one or two…Also a few million + in Weston…wasn’t expecting that.

7. Nancy L
   Comment by Nancy L | 10/21/09 at 2:52 am

   Megan, of the 93 condos that you listed in those two zip codes how many are in the luxury market, luxury being $700,000 or above

8. megan
   Comment by megan | 10/21/09 at 5:31 am

   Nancy, I just added up the two figures from the map. I didn’t look at the specific stats on the cost of each unit. It did seem like there was an even distribution from lower to higher-end units. I saw several 1 million plus as well as many 250k to 500k.

9. The Economist
   Comment by The Economist | 10/21/09 at 11:34 am

   The realtytrac.com listings are useless. Yeah, find me “Lagrange Street” in the Back Bay. It’s in West Roxbury.

   Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet.

10. megan
    Comment by megan | 10/21/09 at 11:52 am

    So the data is innacurate? I searched using the map, I didn’t look for a specific street. Are you telling me that the flags and related listings are not correct?

    I agree with your comment, “Dont believe everything you see on the internet”, I think it may apply to your post.

11. Mary
    Comment by Mary | 10/21/09 at 2:35 pm

    Megan,

    You must be mistaken:

    “However, in the core of downtown Boston:

    * There’s no real estate downturn

    * Boston city center real estate is not in the middle of a real estate crisis

    * Prices are not falling, but appreciating, in downtown Boston

    * There are little to no foreclosures in downtown Boston

    “Kevin Ahearn puts together yearly statistics for downtown Boston real estate, representing a broader scale of neighborhoods than we alluded to above, and he displays a 5.74% appreciation in average Boston condo prices in 2007 over 2006. Additionally, to take a specific neighborhood example, John Keith recently did a chronicle of South End condo prices, covering prices in the South End from 2005 through 2008, and again, we see both average and median home prices continuing to rise. The city center is much different than the rest of the state, or the country for that matter, and these statistics demonstrate that.”

    BTW, two sales in the South End this week:

    143 West Brookline sold for 380K, 65k off asking and about $400 per sq ft.

    156 Worcester st sold for 700k or 27k less than in 2004.

12. Great Nabe
    Comment by Great Nabe | 10/22/09 at 3:42 pm

    Hey, what can I say, the millions of Harvard lawyers, doctors, and entrepeneurs are all fighting to get into the South End. What a nabe!

13. megan
    Comment by megan | 10/22/09 at 5:02 pm

    Great Nabe, I guess these “millions” of lawyers, doctors, and entrepreneurs must have missed the ads for the Bryant units before they had to be sold at auction.

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