A 20-room Weston mansion sitting on an 8-acre hilltop has sold for $15.6 million, the highest home price ever in Weston and the highest sale price for a home in Greater Boston over the past four years, according to the MetroWest Daily News.
Though unloaded at a record price, the final sale was still $4 [...]

Mortgage Rates Rise; 30-Year Fixed Is at 4.91%

The Boston Redevelopment Authority has approved a new $75 million, 16-story student dorm at and around the site of the old YMCA building on Huntington Avenue.
The Y will continue operations, but it sounds like it will be totally surrounded by Northeastern University housing. The neighborhood appears split on the deal.

Massachusetts ranks high on the list, thanks largely to our lower-than-average unemployment rate and high incomes.
But you’ll never guess which state is No. 1. Go ahead. Give it a shot. Hint: Political dysfunction.
File under: Political dysfunction, the positive side.

Comparing Boston South End condo sales from Jan 1st – April 1st for 2010 and 2011.
Boston South End condo sales
Number of Boston South End condo sales 2010 – 88.
Number of Boston South End condo sales 2011 – 83
—–
Average sales price for Boston South End condo in 2010 – $643,807.00
Average sales price for Boston South [...]

New Real Estate Listings - Updated April 14, 2011

MLS #
 
Address
 
Description
List Price

71214897
 
234 Causeway Street
 
5 room, 3 bed, 2 bath 2/3 Family
$2,050,000

71214938
 
234 Causeway Street
 
5 room, 3 bed, 3 bath 2/3 Family
$1,895,000

71214648
 
2 Avery Street
 
5 room, 2 bed, 2 bath 2/3 Family
$1,650,000

71214229
 
20 Rowes Wharf
 
4 room, 2 bed, 2 bath 2/3 Family
$1,450,000

71214781
 
508 Columbus Avenue
 
7 room, 4 [...]

This Case Shiller 100-year chart seems to indicate that the nation’s housing correction (i.e. falling prices) has a way to go before it’s all over, though it’s well past the halfway mark at this point.
Our suspicion is that we’re further along in the correction here in Massachusetts, compared to the rest of the nation. The [...]

The Fed’s Beige Book came out today. The key graf on the Boston District housing market: “Notwithstanding their reports of recent increases in activity, (real estate) contacts emphasize that activity levels in the region’s housing markets remain far from what they would characterize as ‘normal’ and they anticipate a lengthy recovery.”

Area home prices may be still falling in places, but Boston’s apartment rents are expected to rise about 6.2 percent this year, on top of last year’s increase of 7 percent.
Says Scott: “Renters, are you feeling the heat yet? And are we headed for another real estate bubble, this time with apartments?”
A true bubble probably [...]

New Real Estate Listings - Updated April 13, 2011

MLS #
 
Address
 
Description
List Price

71214648
 
2 Avery Street
 
5 room, 2 bed, 2 bath 2/3 Family
$1,650,000

71214229
 
20 Rowes Wharf
 
4 room, 2 bed, 2 bath 2/3 Family
$1,450,000

71214781
 
508 Columbus Avenue
 
7 room, 4 bed, 2 bath 2/3 Family
$1,249,000

71214046
 
188 W Canton St
 
5 room, 2 bed, 1 bath 2/3 Family
$859,000

71214189
 
1 Huntington Ave
 
3 room, [...]