Cambridge House Median Jumps; Most Bostonians Renters
HUB-WIDE—If you're a seller, these are happy days: "At $1.2 million, the median sale price of a Cambridge single-family home is 80 percent higher than its pre-recession peak, according to a new analysis by a Boston real estate firm. ... [S]ale prices in the Boston neighborhoods of Jamaica Plain and South Boston also beat their past peaks by 41 and 33 percent, respectively." [Globe]__
BOSTON—The share of renters in the city has spiked since 2006. The percentage of Boston residents who lease rather than own now rivals those in Los Angeles, New York and Miami. Wonder why. [WSJ]
"Based on the headline, I thought the answer would be 'their parents' basement.'" —a reader on our item entitled "Where the Young People Are Living in Greater Boston"
Just Try to Stop the Sun From Shining in This Central Square TH
Technically, 64R Prospect Street off Central Square in Cambridge is a free-standing condo, not a townhouse. Aesthetically, though, it's definitely the latter. There are two levels, vaulted ceilings, an open floor plan (especially on the first floor), Juliette balconies (plus a deck and a stone patio), and a study. Oh, and four skylights as well as a built-in espresso/latte maker. The 3-BR, 3.5-BA, 1,852-square-footer dropped on the market in mid-January for $899,000. A deal is already pending.
Downtown Quincy Project Praying to the Gentrification Gods
It's one of the biggest developments we're watching in 2015, and it's moving rapidly forward: the 169-unit West of Chestnut, the first phase of a much larger project in downtown Quincy. Gate Residential is leading its development. They're the same folks who brought you Somerville's transit-oriented Maxwell's Green and Fort Point's enigmatic Ten Farnsworth. And they have got high hopes for West of Chestnut and for downtown Quincy in general.
This shuffle would probably affect the smaller spots the most (e.g. not the stadium): "If Boston is awarded the 2024 Summer Olympics, it likely will follow the course of other host cities: Plans involving the location and size of venuescould change dramatically in the years leading up to the Games." [Globe]
Here's a hot new way to save money in the Boston apartment market: shack up. That's right, when all else fails, ask someone to move in with you. At least, that's according to a new report just in time for Valentines Day from our pals at HotPads. Boston renters can save some $797 every month living with a significant other. More details this way, including an interactive neighborhood map. [Curbed Boston]Here's Where to Rent in Greater Boston Right This Second
[Interior shot from Fenway's new Van Ness]
Greater Boston may be in the throes of the Luxury Glutpocalypse, with tons of new apartments and the tenant incentives to match, but it's still tough out there to find a decent place, right, especially given the prices? And the weather's certainly not helping those schlepping from fast-going listing to fast-going listing. But take hope: We have mapped 10 newish apartment complexes region-wide with availabilities and, in many cases, special offers such as free rent. Hopefully it helps you navigate the Thunderdome that is the Hub's rental market as its springtime fever pitch approaches.
Back Bay's Dictatorial 130 Commonwealth Ave. Finds Buyer
What a ride 130 Commonwealth Avenue has had in the last few years. It sold for nearly $10M in mid-2013 after asking as much as $12.5M. Shortly thereafter, it took a turn as Boston's priciest rental, asking as much as $43,000 a month (and turning down an offer of $28,500). And, since late 2013, it has been one of the most expensive listings up for grabs in the entire city, asking as much as $13.9M. Well, it appears that 130 Comm. Ave. is ready for yet another act: There is a contract out on the 9,908-square-foot, 12-room mansion with five fireplaces, a private elevator and a 2,200-bottle wine cellar.
Wynn on Everett Revenue; London Mayor on Boston Olympics
EVERETT—The Wynn people are certainly excited about their prospective casino-resort: "'We are going to be responsible for $50 million a month in revenue for this state, probably another $50 million in related revenues to all the surrounding communities,' said Ian Coughlan, president of Wynn Resorts-Macau on an earnings call last week. 'To be in Boston, Massachusetts, and in the metropolitan area in Everett and have almost four million people where we're the only game in town is scintillating.'" [Herald]
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HUB-WIDE—London Mayor Boris Johnson is visiting the region and wants you to know the Olympics are positively smashing: "'It will be like the Big Dig in this sense, that everybody will moan, everybody will complain, and everybody will be gloomy until just before it takes off, when suddenly everybody will be overcome by euphoria,' Johnson told the Herald. 'And they won't be able to imagine how they could have even considered not bidding for the Olympics. And then it will go swimmingly well.'" [Herald]
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Armed with an X-Acto knife and a point-and-shoot camera, Michael Paul Smithcreates incredibly life-like scenes of midcentury America by photographing tiny model buildings in front of real cities and vistas. Curbed National takes a look at a recently released mini-doc on his background and craft, this way. [Curbed National]
Yet another public-private pop-up park, this time in Kendall Square: "The project's acre of fenced-off land is basically the front yard of the Genzyme Center and the Watermark East apartment complex ... Designed by landscape architect Tobias Wolf, the open space would include new pathways, native plantings, small hills, and benches made from reclaimed granite." [BetaBoston]How Much for Brand-New Dorchester Duplex with Parking?
PriceSpotter is Curbed Boston's asking-price guessing game. We provide you with some details and pictures from an apartment listing, and you vote for which price you think it is. If you think it's none of the above, tender a more exact guess in the comments or shoot us an email. Later this week we reveal the answer. And, hey, no cheating!
What/Where: a 3-BR, 3-BA condo off Neponset Avenue near Ashmont Street
Square Footage: 2,100
The Skinny: This duplex in the Hub's Neighborhood of the Year is part of a new development and will be move-in ready in May. It comes with fenced-in yard space; two parking spaces; storage; and the opportunity, if you buy in early enough, to select flourishes such as cabinetry, paint colors and countertops.
Square Footage: 2,100
The Skinny: This duplex in the Hub's Neighborhood of the Year is part of a new development and will be move-in ready in May. It comes with fenced-in yard space; two parking spaces; storage; and the opportunity, if you buy in early enough, to select flourishes such as cabinetry, paint colors and countertops.
Where the Young People Are Living in Greater Boston
It is a certain truism of Boston-area real estate that young people really dig living here, the apocalyptic winters and aching public-transit system notwithstanding. Or at least that's the long-term hope. Everything from the tech and biotech industries that animate much of the economy to the sputtering phenomenon that are micro-apartments to the very notion of how and what to build in the regionhinges in no small part on how many young folk are here and where they want to be once they arrive.
The above map comes courtesy of urban-planning researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada. They are studying where those born between 1980 and 2000 are choosing to live (for better or worse, we call those people Millennials, though the sample probably includes Generation X-ers, too). Boston is, naturally, one of the 57 metro areas in the United States and Canada that they are tracking.
If the current push to bring the Games to Boston seems familiar, it is: There was a similar effort to land the 2008 Olympics. "Other ideas ... would have included baseball—still an Olympic sport at the time (and maybe one again come 2024)—at Fenway; softball on Boston Common; archery at Tufts; and soccer between Foxboro Stadium, Harvard Stadium, Holy Cross Stadium, and the Yale Bowl. A velodrome would have been built near the Eliot Bridge in Allston..." [Boston.com]Just How Much Snow Has Massachusetts Gotten Lately?
[Photo from kke227 via Flickr]
Gov. Charlie Baker briefed the media on the latest snowpocalypse and drove home just how much white stuff the commonwealth has gotten lately with this little nugget: Mass. plows have already moved enough snow this winter to fill the 1.9 million-square-foot Gillette Stadium 90 times. It's like some sort of Super Bowl of snowfalls.
· Our Snow Patrol archive [Curbed Boston]
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- Curbed’s Guide to Buying in Boston
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- How Much Hub Home Can You Afford: Part I
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