Overall Boston Property Taxes Up in 2010

January 20, 2010 By

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 the tax rate, many homeowners will face larger property tax bills during fiscal year 2010.

Residents who maintain their Boston home as a primary residence will continue to qualify for a residential exemption.  The fiscal year 2010 residential exemption subtracts $125,090 from a property’s assessed value, saving qualified homeowners $1,486.07 on their tax bill.

For an example of how to calculate taxes for your condo, as well as a historical look at tax rates in Boston, visit our newly updated Boston property taxes article.

Filed Under: Boston

Bobby Quinn Becomes Contributor to Boston Real Estate Observer

January 15, 2010 By

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 property management division of the Boston Brokerage Group.  Quinn also has experience in Financial Services and real estate syndication.

The Boston Real Estate Observer continues to identify thought leaders and experts, such as Quinn, in various real estate related fields who serve as regular contributors to the publication in an effort to bring readers a comprehensive content portfolio. For more information on becoming a regular contributor to the Boston Real Estate Observer, contact us using the link at the top of this page.

Filed Under: Boston

2009 Downtown Boston Parking Spot Sales

January 13, 2010 By

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 97. Average sales price fell slightly to approximately $94,000, and median sales price rose slightly to $67,000.

2009 Boston Parking Space Sales Statistics:
Number Sold: 65
Average: $94,420
Median: $67,000
Average DOM: 132 days

2008 Boston Parking Space Sales Statistics:
Number Sold: 97
Average: $99,641
Median: $65,000
Average DOM: 136 days

The economics (i.e. supply and demand) behind parking spaces in the heart of the city continue to bolster the appeal and stature of owning a space outright, for those who simply need a place to park a vehicle either inside or out, or those looking to build a stable and diversified investment portfolio.

2010 is off to a quick start, with the latest Boston parking spot sale taking place at the Ritz Carlton (2 Avery Street) in Boston’s Midtown neighborhood – the space in the self-park secured Ritz Carlton garage sold for $88,000.

For more information on deeded parking spaces in Boston, see our comprehensive page of Boston parking space listings.

Filed Under: Boston Parking Spaces

Top Stories of 2009

December 30, 2009 By

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 the Boston market.  Additionally, we brought on five well known and respected real estate experts as contributors to the site to bring you news in their areas of expertise, and we look forward to the opportunity to bring on further contributors.  As we did in 2009, we plan to implement some innovative new ideas in 2010 to continue bringing readers robust and comprehensive coverage of the Boston real estate market.  Here are the top 10 most read articles from 2009:

  1. Boston Parking Spaces – our downtown Boston parking spots page continues to be a top destination for those who want to buy and/or sell a parking spot in Boston.
  2. The 1850 New South End Condo Development – along the southern border of the South End, a new loft-style condo development called the 1850 launched, we were one of the first to bring you exclusive photos and a comprehensive overview of the property.  The project then became one of a small handful of properties in downtown Boston that have been brought to the auction block over the past several years.
  3. 441 Stuart Street: What Happened? – Brecht Palombo provided in depth coverage of the foreclosure auction of a Back Bay building at 441 Stuart Street.
  4. Nouvelle at Natick Condo Auction – General Growth Properties placed a bet on creating a luxury condo living experience at the Natick Collection mall that backfired on them.  After declaring bankruptcy, the firm proceeded to try and sell off its position in the faltering condo development via an auction.
  5. The Clarendon Brings Unique Living to Back Bay – closings began at the ultra-luxury Clarendon Back Bay in December 2009, the building represents the only true high-rise living accommodations in the Back Bay.
  6. Disputing a Low Home Appraisal – with lending regulations changing in 2009, along with the underlying requirements around appraisals, this pointer to an informative article on how to dispute a low home appraisal was especially popular this year.
  7. Boston Property Taxes – many Bostonians saw a decrease in both their tax rate as well as assessed home value in 2009, which equates to a lower tax bill.  The residential exemption has decreased in value, perhaps an effort by the City to maintain their tax base.
  8. Nothing Standard About Standard Purchase and Sale Agreement – in addition to breaking news, the Boston Real Estate Observer features a swath of informative articles covering real estate basics, our article about the standard P&S agreement has gained significant popularity.
  9. Boston W Hotel and Condos – we’ve brought you coverage of the Boston W since project inception, providing some of the most exclusive photos and news about the development as it moved through construction to the hotel opening earlier this year and its most recent condo closings in December 2009.
  10. FP3 Seaport District Condos Slow to Sell – while the latest Seaport District condo development, FP3, began with an extremely slow sales velocity, it has picked up steam during 2009, with currently 35 units in the building recorded as sold (per LINK).

We look forward to another exciting year in Boston real estate, and a whole new set of top 10 articles in 2010.  Happy New Year!

Filed Under: Boston

New Ultra Luxury Baseline

December 27, 2009 By

After several years of construction, and a redefining of multiple blocks of downtown Boston, both the Boston W Condos and the Clarendon Back Bay began closing on units located on lower floors of each building earlier this month.  The W and Clarendon join the Mandarin Oriental, 45 Province, and Battery Wharf as the newest flock of ultra-luxury large scale Boston condominium developments that were delivered in late 2008 and 2009.

Sales figures for both the W Boston and Clarendon Back Bay have been kept relatively quiet during pre-construction and finishing, and as time unfolds and the registry of deeds is updated, Bostonians will begin to see what price points are being paid to inhabit Boston’s latest luxury living accommodations.

What can be seen thus far, with approximately 5 units in each development being recorded as sold, is that average price points at a price per square foot level in the W and Clarendon at $820 and $990 respectively are significantly lower than the Mandarin Oriental fetched, and well off the average of units currently advertised in each building of $1,090 and $1,150 respectively.

Comparing early sales with other fully sold out buildings (such as the Mandarin) or other currently available units in the same building, may not be a fair comparison given that the majority of units recorded in each building thus far have been on lower floors of each development.  It has been relatively standard that prices typically rise $15K-$20K per floor as you climb towards the penthouse of a large-scale condo development.

With the sudden boost in market closing activity due to closings at the W Boston and Clarendon Back Bay during December 2009, and further closings expected during January, those watching statistics of the Boston condo market over the next several months should look at the numbers knowing that averages can be significantly and easily impacted by injecting just a few high-end price points into a sample.

Filed Under: Boston Condos Tagged With: ,

Debate Ensues over Case-Shiller Index

December 20, 2009 By

LINK, one of the two MLS systems that serve the Boston market, routinely holds a lecture series for its members and guests that cover a wide range of real estate related topics.  The most recent lecture took place at the ultra-luxury Mandarin Oriental in Boston’s Back Bay.  The keynote speaker was Karl Case, one of the founders of the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, which measure the residential housing market, tracking changes in the value of the residential real estate market in 20 metropolitan regions across the United States.

In essence, the index covers homes that have resold, typically in suburban markets, but does not include condos or new construction sales (only repeat sales).  As Karl Case opened the microphone up for questions following his keynote address, local broker Kevin Ahearn raised the concern that Case’s index does not reflect downtown Boston, as the index does not include condos (the overwhelming majority of downtown Boston’s housing stock) nor new construction sales.  Following the session, Case was quoted as saying that Ahearn “simply doesn’t like anybody who says prices go down – and I say they have”.

It’s rather difficult to take a national or regional trends pitch into the heart of downtown Boston, and while Case suggested that 2010 would be a good year, members of the audience appreciated the message, but realized that the debate highlights the hyper-local nature of real estate, and the potential dangers of aggregating data and drawing conclusions about a local market from regional or national data trends that do not capture  its local nuances.

LINK founder Debra Taylor Blair said the (downtown) Boston condominium market has fared much better than suburban single0family home sales (the latter being what the Case-Shiller index tracks).

Filed Under: Boston Condo Statistics

Q3 MA Bank Report: Distress Totals Rise

December 11, 2009 By

New distressed debt numbers from the banking sector have recently been published, so it is time again to take a look at the 181 banks that make up our local lending landscape. There is a lot of talk about a very serious forthcoming correction in commercial real estate and the effects that this will have on our financial institutions. New numbers indicate, however, that Massachusetts lenders may be set to dodge this bullet… at least to some degree.

Overall, Massachusetts banks saw an increase in their distressed real estate balances of only about 5% Q2-Q3 2009. I don’t know if this sounds like a lot or a little to you, but  compared to the US totals at 11% its not too bad. Still, distress totals are up 72% over the last four quarters, not a confidence instilling figure.

This quarter is the first quarter that two Massachusetts banks are reporting capital adequacy numbers below those deemed healthy. In lay terms, capital adequacy has to do with the ratio of what you’ve got in the vault to what you’ve got on the street. Tier 1 + Tier 2 capital to risk weight adjusted assets should be no lower than 8%. One of these banks, Mt Washington Bank, recently announced a merger with East Boston Savings Bank, which, while reporting a little less than $20 Million in non-accrual loans and a little more than $2.5MM in (mostly construction) REO, is well capitalized reporting a ratio of 14% compared to Mt Washington’s 6%.

The other bank of note is Butler Bank. Butler reported capital adequacy ratios at 2% and 3%, a far cry from the 4% and 8% that regulators like to see. Butler’s construction portfolio has gone south at a rate of almost 40% (39.59%) and is by every measure the main source of their ills. It has been reported elsewhere that the bank is being closely monitored by the FDIC.

Overall Massachusetts banks saw the following changes from Q2 to Q3.

  • 15% increase in residential distress mainly consisting of a big uptick in REO
  • 3.26% increase in distressed multifamily
  • Unchanged (virtually) commercial real estate distress
  • Unchanged (less than 1%) construction distress

The distressed real estate totals are calculated by adding a banks 90+day late loans, non-accrual loans, and REO (bank owned property). It appears that we may be getting over the hump with construction loans both locally and nationally but that doesn’t mean that banks have dealt with the construction problems at hand only that most of the problems are already in the system. For example, while non-performing construction loans with Mass. banks fell by 2% to $222MM construction REO (bank owned) grew from $75.7MM to $84MM.

There are strong indicators that many, if not most, banks (with problems) are postponing inevitable losses as they move paper around internally. At some point that will have to stop and distressed properties will have to be sold. Today, Massachusetts-based banks are holding about $1.33 Billion in distressed real estate loans and property. About two-thirds of that is residential, construction, and multifamily while the balance is commercial. It’s important to remember that the numbers I’m giving you do not represent the whole of the distressed real estate market in Massachusetts. but only the numbers held at Massachusetts based banks. That means Bank of America, Citi, Deutsche Bank, and all of the largest lender’s numbers as well as mortgage backed securities are  unrepresented.

MA-90-0909MA-NA-0909MA-OR-0909

Filed Under: Lending Markets

Tufts Dental Completes Construction

November 30, 2009 By

Following approximately 1.5 years of construction, Tufts Dental School recently completed its vertical expansion project, adding 5 floors and approximately 95,000 square feet to the downtown Boston location. The new space expands Tufts’ patient clinics, classrooms, offices, and Continuing Education and research facilities.

November 20, 2009 marked the dedication and grand opening of the redeveloped building, located on the edge of Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood.  The development effort, launched in April 2008, was funded mainly through private donations of alumni.

In the face of a difficult commercial real estate market, Tufts Dental School is able to fund and complete a major construction project largely because of its ability to diversify revenue generation across three separate and distinct activities – the school draws donations from alumni, collects tuition from students of its four year DMD program, and generates revenue from its internal clinic staffed by students, which serves more than 20,000 patients each year on a for-fee basis.

Tufts Dental School Boston

Tufts Dental School Vertical Expansion Project

Filed Under: Commercial Real Estate

Luxury Condo Market Slows Down

November 28, 2009 By

Amid speculation of whether the upper class is being impacted as much as other socioeconomic classes during the world’s economic downturn, luxury million dollar real estate in downtown Boston points to a slowdown.  From 2008 to 2009, sales activity in the $1 million + downtown Boston condo market fell approximately 22%.

While the rich may be buying again in certain product areas (see Rich Buying Again, But Middle Class Still Hurting), luxury housing in Boston is not yet one of them.  Year-to-date in 2009, 198 condos priced at or above $1 million have sold in downtown Boston, down from 255 during the same time period in 2008 according to MLSpin.  The amount of time, or days on market, that those units are sitting on the market for sale has decreased from 164 during 2008 to 139 during 2009, a sign that what is being listed for sale is selling at a faster pace.  However, the sale price to original listing price ratio, a measure of how well units are being priced in the eyes of the market, has fallen, from 105% in 2008 to 90% in 2009.

The $4 million to $10 million market has been hit hardest, with sales down approximately 71% from 2008 to 2009.

Filed Under: Boston Condos

The Bryant: Beginning to End Photos

November 16, 2009 By

October 2006 saw construction begin on the Bryant Back Bay (at that time, known as the Bryant on Columbus), and recently released is the first time series set of Bryant Back Bay construction photos that chronicles the building from ground-up construction to the 50-unit luxury condo development that it is today.

The north side of the block between Dartmouth and Clarendon now appears complete, with a significantly different feel from the blacktop parking lot that occupied the site before construction on the Bryant began in late 2006.

Bryant Construction Site Pre-2006

Bryant Back Bay November 2009

Filed Under: Back Bay Condos Tagged With: , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »