the Property Monger Real Estate Blog

Lexington MA to be precise.  So it turns out that the Big Dig isn’t a complete waste.  Someone had the bright idea of taking some of the materials that were trash, and turned it into a house.  And a freaking uber-dope looking modern one at that, check out the pictures.  I personally love the design and style.

Hopefully they used more than just epoxy to put this one together.

***Side note: This story was also fatured in the boston globe real estate section 8-6-06.  Hmph print media… so slow.

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As of today there are currently:

63 multi family homes for sale in Cambridge priced from  $449,000 - $5.4 million

- 19 are currently under agreement - 12 sold in the last month - 23 in last 2 months - 33 sold in the last 3 months

There’s a months supply of 5.25 that seems to have stayed relatively steady when taking a 2 month or 3 month average as well.

When looking at active listings (properties currently on the market that have not sold or gone under agreement) the average list price is $1,032,430. 

That number includes 2 “outliers” .. one 11 unit building for $3.15 million and one 2 unit building for $5.4 million.  With those two removed, we have an average list price of $926,116.

If you then look at the sold units for the last 3 months you get:

Average Original Price: $926,602

Average List Price: $900,700  

Average Sale Price: $869,514  

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So ispiration hit me in Montreal this weekend after some drinks.  It wasn’t the alcohol’s effects that caused it  (I swear!!!), but the not so wonderfull cost. 

 When I went to school in Burlington VT (’97-’01), my friends would frequent Montreal for numerous reasons.  A few that come to mind were the beautiful scenery (a.k.a. stripclubs), the drinking age of 18, and the fact that they could go out to eat, get surf and turf, appetizers, and drinks for $25 American.

Not so anymore….. the same principle definitely effects peoples purchasing decisions in most realms, Real Estate included.  I found an interesting article  Who Needs the Riviera, that focused on a small group of Europeans taking advantage of their strong Euro in the American Real Estate market.  The article also indicated that it wasn’t necessarily a small group of Europeans settling in the area.

The current exchange rates are not just favoring those with a strong Euro versus the Dollar, however it also appears to be fueling some currency speculation through housing.  South Korean cash flows into U.S. real estate shows a perfect example of the reasoning behind the speculation.

“They (wealthy Koreans) are betting that the U.S. dollar will strengthen, causing the value of their U.S. holdings to appreciate when converted into Korean currency, and that even slower home-price appreciation in the U.S. will continue to beat returns in Korea, where high taxes on real-estate profits discourage speculation.”

With interest rates on the rise, I think that their guess that the US dollar will strengthen, is a very educated guess.

 So is this a good thing or not?  Well it depends on who you are.

 If you’re a homeowner worried about the value of your home in an uncertain market,  this should ease some of your stress.  Foreign investment can be a great thing for homeowners in a certain area.  The increase in demand and foreign money to an area that did not have it prior, will absolutely help increase/sustain property values of other homes around the area. 

For those of you still renting waiting for just the right time……If you’re going to be in the same area for a few years, and you have good credit, the best time is now.

And for potential investors just waiting around for the bubble to pop and great deals to start popping up from people who overextended themselves, it appears as though you might have some foreign competition on some of those purchases.

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Hello again to all you Real Estate fans out there. So I recently came across the Carnival of Real Estate and wanted to share it with those of you that don’t already know about it. I could write a whole bunch of stuff about what it is, but the fact of the matter is that someone else already did it…. and I’m feeling lazy. So instead of reinventing the wheel, check it out for yourself:

So according to my last post, I suspect that there are areas of Boston that are soon to lose value due to the complete mishap that is the Big Dig.  Lets see if I am right or wrong with some stats taken today (7-13-06) for South Boston (an area I would argue that has seen appreciation because of the Big Digs positive speculation) and Jamaica Plain (a similar neighborhood that has not had direct appreciation from the big dig).

 South Boston Condos:

1 Beds  Average sales price: $321,843  Units for sale:70   Months supply:10

2 beds Average Sales Price: $352,543   Units for sale:210   Months supply:9.1

3 beds Average sales price: $496,833   Units for Sale: 45   Months Supply: 15

 

Jamaica Plain Condos:

1 Beds  Average sales price:  $252,250 Units for sale: 40  Months supply: 10

2 beds Average Sales Price: $341,008   Units for sale: 118  Months supply: 4.72

3 beds Average sales price: $425,750  Units for Sale: 57   Months Supply: 4.75

 Already it appears that Jamaica Plain is doing much better that South Boston when looking at just months supply.  It looks like demand has already dropped off in South Boston already with such a high months supply, whereas JP is seeing a healthy mix of supply and demand in it’s 2 and 3 bedrooms with under a 5 months supply for both.

 Apparently right now the big dig project is officially closed down, and will remain on lockdown until criminal investigators complete their investigation and engineers study the scene.

 

 

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