Update on the Boston luxury condo development front:
45 Province Street – 16 condos sold.
The Clarendon – 13 condos sold.
The W – 8 condos sold.

Online Surveys & Market Research

Track your dollar bills. Go to the website Where’s George? and enter the serial number of the bill. If the bill has been in circulation long enough, you might be able to see where your bill has been as it travels from wallets to registers and back. After you enter your bills, check back later [...]

I come across this post by Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis giving yet another reason banks are still reluctant to lend money. They aren’t just afraid of failing themselves — they want to keep their balance sheets looking nice and flush in case their competitors fail.
When the FDIC shuts down a failed bank, it [...]

A new real estate term I learned today: “location-efficiency standards.”
Homeowners in areas that are car-dependent and without transit options are at greater risk of foreclosure, according to a new report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). which is calling for mortgage underwriting standards to start taking so-called “location-efficiency standards” into account.
Transportation costs represent [...]

The FDIC ate six banks Friday night, and 15 for the month of January 2010, exceeding by nine the FDIC ate in January 2009.
File Under: * burp * ah, tasty banks…

Home sales climbed 3 percent in 2009 compared to 2008, the first year-over-year increase in four years. Click here to listen to the Warren Group’s CEO Timothy Warren Jr. discuss how the housing market shaped up in 2009, and what 2010 will look like.

Click here for 2009 Boston condos Sales Report
Boston condo sales in 2009 – Almost all Boston proper neighborhoods were down compared to 2008.
Back Bay – 338 condo sales – down 26.88%
Beacon Hill – 176 condo sales – down 19.63%
Charlestown – 250 condo sales – down 7.75%
Leather District – 56 condo sales – UP 47.37%
Midtown/Boston [...]

The following information is from the local MLS database as of Janaury 29, 2010, compared to (January 31, 2009) and (February 2, 2008).
Total # of condos for sale in Boston: 1,586 (1,615) (2,025)
Number of condos sold, past 30 days: 168 (148) (187)
Average days on market, sold units: 135 (110) (115)
Ratio, closing/sales price to list [...]

Scott unloads on the IRS for launching a crackdown on abuses of the new home tax-credit program.
It seems millions of dollars have been lost to scammers across the country who took the money and scrammed. So what does the IRS do? It cracks down on everyone else.
Some of its new filing procedures are understandable and [...]

Click to enlarge picture
I hope not.