Some have already noticed this fall’s high rate of apartment vacancies in some Boston neighborhoods. But it’s also a national problem, as the apartment vacancy rate rose in the third quarter to 7.8 percent, the highest since 1986. The most commonly cited reason: high unemployment. Normally, people flock to rental properties during recessions. But this [...]

This morning I was reading the  Small Property Owners Association Newsletter and I came across this story. An East Cambridge owner of a two-family property reports that she rented out her three- bedroom unit upstairs to a single man who truned around and re-rented the unit to four students, charging them in total more than the [...]

From the Boston Courant: Suffolk University will house 270 students at the Holiday Inn on Cambridge Street in Beacon Hill and Hyatt Regency Hotel Inn in Downtown Crossing, where school officials say more supervision of incoming students is possible. The school will pay about $5,000 per student to house 150 at the Holiday Inn and [...]

The nation’s apartment market deteriorated in the first quarter as rising unemployment dashed landlords’ hopes that the housing downturn would create a soft landing by bringing former homeowners back as renters. The vacancy rate for the top 79 U.S. markets jumped to an average 7.2%, a full percentage point increase over the past two quarters [...]

Boston University and its students were at the forefront of a City Council meeting as members discussed the city’s undergraduate housing limitation. City Council President Mike Ross (Backbay, Fenway, Kenmore) proposed an ordinance that will increase the enforcement of a law that prohibits more than four unrelated undergraduates from living together. Ross co-sponsored the restriction, [...]

It looks as though FP3, the new 92-unit development under construction in Boston’s Fort Point Channel neighborhood, is almost completed. I think closings are scheduled for this week or next, based on what I see in MLSPIN. Several condos appear to have been purchased by investors; three units have come on the after-sale market as [...]

I noticed an expired listing in MLSPIN today, #70742963. It is a five-bedroom condo on Park Drive, conveniently located near Emmanuel, Simmons, Wheelock, Northeastern, BU, MassArt, SMFA, Mass College of Pharmacy, and Wentworth, among others. It was listed at $585,000. Not that it matters. With five bedrooms, it’s too large for a group of students [...]

Several affordable housing opportunities are available in the new Long Glen rental complex, in Boston’s Allston neighborhood. There are 33 units available, in total. Some are for those making up to 30% of the area’s median income and some are for those making up to 60% of the area’s median income. If you’re single, this [...]

1330 Boylston is an apartment building currently under construction in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood. There are units set aside as “affordable” meaning renters must meet income qualifications. The limits are pretty high – around $60k for a single person, $68k for a couple. From the Boston Redevelopment Authority: We wanted to make you aware of the [...]

From today’s Herald: WinnDevelopment is taking over a long-vacant pickle factory on Mission Hill with plans for a sweeping renovation that will create affordable and moderately priced housing. The … project calls for a total of 62 units, 43 of them affordable set-asides and another 19 moderately priced “workforce” units. Three of the workforce units [...]