Altos Research, a Mountain View, Calif.-based real estate market data firm, looked at every city in the United States with at least 100 homes on the market to find out where asking prices for single-family homes had risen the most since last year (though Altos does not track condominiums). The number one place in the [...]

Median sale prices for condominiums in Cambridge increased in January compared to a year earlier, and the number of sales rose as well. The new report from the Warren Group, which publishes Banker & Tradesman, stated this week that nine single-family homes were sold in Cambridge in January compared to just one a year earlier. [...]

Comparing 2010 Back Bay condo sales with 2009. Sold Statistics – 2010 Back Bay Sold Listings: 57 Avg. Sales Price: $1,282,518 Median Sales Price: $965,000 Avg. $/SF: $832 Avg. DOM: 160 Sold Statistics – 2009 Back Bay Condo Listings: 27 Avg. Sales Price: $1,278,366 Median Sales Price: $775,000 Avg. $/SF: $783 Avg. DOM: 145

Boston condo sales stats Jan & Feb 2010 compared with 2009. Sold Statistics – Jan/Feb 2010 Listings Sold: 442 Avg.: $486,358 Median: $319,375 Avg. $/SF: $427 Avg. DOM: 133 Sold Statistics – Jan/Feb 2009 Listings Sold: 394 Avg. $: $377,994 Median $: $276,250 Avg. $/SF: $350 Avg. DOM: 114

Excerpt form the LA Times, headlined Many borrowers in default stay put as lenders delay evictions: Throughout the country, people continue to default on their home loans — but lenders have backed off on forced evictions, allowing many to remain in their homes, essentially rent-free. Several factors are driving the trend, industry experts say, including [...]

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Here is Warren Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders, with Buffett focusing on manufactured housing because Berkshire owns Clayton Homes: The [manufactured homes] industry is in shambles for two reasons, the first of which must be lived with if the U.S. economy is to recover. This reason concerns U.S. housing starts (including apartment units). In 2009, [...]

As we all watch the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, let us not forget one of our own Back Bay residents, Kevin Ahearn, known for his expertise in the luxury real estate market and president/owner of Otis & Ahearn – and who won the silver medal playing left wing for the ’72 U.S. Olympic Hockey team. [...]

Boston’s Christian Science Church is now eying a new 35-story residential tower, a 15-story hotel and another building around its famous plaza area – and some historic preservations are effectively saying ‘hold on.’ A major controversy doesn’t seem to be brewing — yet. It appears – appears – most everyone is in agreement about preserving [...]

Here’s an interesting piece from Banker & Tradesman, headlined Boston’s hardest hit neighborhoods finally hitting bottom: … Sure, condo prices and sales finally slowed in downtown Boston, but Dorchester, Roxbury, East Boston, Mattapan and Hyde Park saw thousands of homeowners fall behind on their mortgages over the past few years, many losing it all. But [...]