Quickly following the Boston W Hotel & Condos and the Mandarin Oriental, the Clarendon Back Bay puts a unique twist on combining rentals, for-sale condos, restaurant, and transit in the Back Bay. [Read More: Click Here]
07 February 2010
The Institute of Supply Management’s January index of non-manufacturing businesses climbed to 50.5, up from 49.8 in December – readings above 50 signal growth. Correspondingly, the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index rose to 58.4, which represented the 6th straight month for expansion. The Consumer Confidence index increased to 55.9, up from 53.6 in December [...]
05 February 2010
Albeit smaller projects, and slowly, downtown Boston is still seeing the addition of residential condo inventory through new construction and redevelopment. The Boston W was the last large-scale project to receive financing for construction, and while there has not been additional large-scale projects green-lighted for development in Boston pre-dating the recession, small-scale development is happening [...]
29 January 2010
The US currently uses about a third of the planet’s annual energy production, and only contains 6% of the world’s population. It is time to make a change. As stated in my previous article (see Upgrade Energy Efficiency with Government Money), there are plenty of tax credits and incentives out there right now to make [...]
28 January 2010
In a recent study conducted by Forbes Magazine, Boston was named the number one city to go from renting to buying. The study looked at how the premium to buy (the spread between what you’d spend on renting and what you’d pay each month for a mortgage) has decreased across a number of cities, as [...]
23 January 2010
With close proximity to the Green and Orange T lines, Copley Square, Newbury Street shopping and the Esplanade, this beautiful (+/-) 1,420 square foot floor-through penthouse at 258 Marlborough Street with gleaming hardwood floors offers exceptional quality at a reasonable price: $965,000 ($679 per square foot). This unique, sunny, well maintained home in move-in condition boasts [...]
22 January 2010
As the nation continues to rebound from recession, it is perhaps no great surprise that Boston’s three latest ultra luxury condo developments, 45 Province, the Clarendon Back Bay, and the Boston W Hotel & Condos, are struggling to drive sales velocity. No condominium developer has a crystal ball, but those behind 45 Province, the Clarendon [...]
21 January 2010
That the real estate market conditions in Boston continue to ebb and flow is an understatement. You’ve heard time and again that “all real estate is local”, and the current statistics contained herein demonstrate why this is indeed a truism. Any sweeping statement of market conditions in the vast “Boston Real Estate Market” is virtually [...]
20 January 2010
Property tax rates in Boston reversed their downward trend for fiscal year 2010, moving from a 2009 tax rate of $10.63 per $1,000 of assessed value, up to $11.88 per $1,000 of assessed value. On the whole, assessed values have remained either stable or decreased slightly in many neighborhoods, but with the approximate 12% increase in [...]
15 January 2010
The combination of rising fuel costs, increased environmental awareness, and the greater availability of affordable eco-friendly upgrades present homeowners with a great opportunity to upgrade their residence. Both state and federal governments are offering fantastic programs to help offset the cost of such energy upgrades. Homeowners interested in improving energy efficiency should start with an energy [...]
15 January 2010
Ecobroker certified, and currently with the Boston Brokerage Group, Bobby Quinn joins the Boston Real Estate Observer as a regular contributor. With a special interest and expertise in green building and condo developments in the environmentally friendly space, Quinn is considered a “utility agent”, and does a little bit of everything, most recently taking over the [...]
13 January 2010
The 2009 downtown Boston parking space sales numbers have been compiled, and year over year, while volume was down, average and median sales prices have remained stable. According to LINK (one of two Boston MLS systems), the number of parking spaces that sold in downtown Boston during 2009 was 65, down from a 2008 volume of [...]
11 January 2010
Boston Area 2009 commercial sales are off by approximately 90% as compared with the market peak. I expect to see more sales activity (not higher prices) only if sellers get more realistic, lenders dump properties on the market, and money sitting on the sidelines decides that the investment makes sense from a CF prospective or [...]
06 January 2010
According to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors®, nearly ninety percent of homeowners use a Realtor to sell their home year after year. Furthermore, similar to the national trend, Massachusetts homeowners who hired a real estate agent to sell their home in 2006 garnered a median selling price that was 23.4 percent higher than homes sold [...]
30 December 2009
In 2009, the Boston Real Estate Observer continued to be one of the most popular real estate news sources in Boston. We expanded news coverage beyond the residential market to include topics in commercial real estate, real estate law, rental markets, and lending markets in an effort to provide readers with a comprehensive view of [...]
Added on 31 July 2009
Brecht Palombo
Auctioneer & Broker
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Jay Alberino
Residential Rental Broker
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Shaun Gasparini
Real Estate Attorney
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Mark Strickland
Realtor & ABR
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Keith Munsell
CPM & Master Lecturer
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Bobby Quinn
EcoBroker Certified
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