Paul Grover
Paul Grover
Co-Founder, Robert Paul Properties
Age: 65
Industry experience: 43 years
Paul Grover’s real estate brokerage career has expanded from its origins on Cape Cod to an office and presence in the luxury markets of Back Bay and Boston suburbs. The firm recently brokered the highest-ticket residential transaction in Cape Cod history with the $22.75 million sale of a 15,500-square-foot oceanfront estate at 835 Sea View Ave. in Osterville, the village where Grover opened his first real estate office in the 1980s. Grover went on to co-found the Kinlin Grover brokerage before selling it to GMAC in 1999. Grover’s current firm, Robert Paul Properties, opened an office on Boston’s Newbury Street in 2014 to expand its Back Bay and Boston suburban growth.
Q: What was the impetus for your company’s growth in the Boston market?
A: So many of our clients were not living and working on the Cape, and a huge percentage were living and working in the Boston area. We’d built relationships with them and they asked us to help them out.
Q: How many showings did the 835 Sea View Ave. property attract since it came on the market in 2022?
A: I think we had 14 showings on it during that period. We had interest in it because of the address. It’s one of the nicest beaches on all of Cape Cod. We have some beautiful listings, and people appreciate them, but it might not be the right fit. It’s also discretionary: It’s not like someone is transferring to Boston and has to move their family. With the luxury and second-home market, it has to feel right for them. The showings we had there, the people without question appreciated the incredible workmanship. You never know if it’s going to take two months or two years [to sell] but we knew there would be someone who appreciated it.
Q: How is the Back Bay luxury home market faring in 2024, and how does the latest Federal Reserve guidance for interest rates affect the market?
A: In Back Bay, the ultra-luxury market in the $10 million-plus range last year was strong because Raffles was coming online. In 2023, there were 13 sales over $10 million and five of those were Raffles. That was unusual, but it was a new building coming on. This year there has been just one transaction over $10 million in Back Bay. In the $5-10 million range, last year there were 32 sales and this year so far 12 have closed and three are under agreement, and we’re a little over halfway through the year. It looks like it’s going to be stronger than 2022, but not as strong as 2023.
In the luxury market, the buyers continue to be a lot of cash buyers. The interest rates are not impacting that market in the way that it does at other price points. The news we hear about people being in houses with 3.5 percent mortgages and not wanting to trade up, I think that’s very true in the conversations I’ve had with property owners. But when you get into the $5-10 million luxury market or super-luxury market over $10 million, most of those houses don’t have mortgages. Our clients are very much aware of the impact of high interest rates overall. They may not be personally impacted, but they are aware that other segments of the market are affected.
Q: How does the lack of new luxury development completions in Boston this year affect the overall high-end market?
A: There are a lot of buyers who like “new.” In Boston there are certainly a lot of people who are selling a beautiful home in the suburbs, and the idea of moving to the city in a brand-new building with views and amenities is very appealing. We’ve seen that in the Seaport and in buildings like Raffles and One Dalton and Winthrop Center. There’s definitely a buyer who really likes the idea of something new and fresh. There’s not a lot of crossover looking at brownstones. And the brownstone buyer tends not to be looking at a tower. In the same way on the Cape, we have people who know what town they want to live in.
Q: Is the Cape market continuing to see an uptick in investor-owned rental properties?
A: Having been at this a long time, I can remember when we were selling large waterfront properties and expensive properties away from the shore, and if we were selling them to second-home owners, they were not looking at them for the rental prospects. They weren’t asking questions like, “What do you think the weekly rent would be if we used it for July and wanted to rent it out in August?” But that has changed. It was starting to change prior to the COVID market. The supply of rental houses has gone up and when we see summers where people aren’t just traveling to where they can drive easily, some of the demand has lessened and not all of the houses have been filled. The demand has leveled back more to normal, and the supply is still up.
Q: What Cape communities are outliers in terms of demand or transaction activity this year?
A: Provincetown is always interesting because it seems like it’s always a strong market there, and on a price-per-square-foot basis it’s some of the most expensive on the Cape. It’s just a very limited supply. On the Cape overall, demand tends to be very good and exceeds the supply. But there’s definitely communities like Chatham, Osterville and Woods Hole where you continue to see strong interest and strong appreciation.
Q: What is your highest-price current listing?
A: 15 Claridge Drive in Weston for $16.25 million. It was built in 1994 and designed by architect Tom Catalano, and he does beautiful work for many of our clients and does a lot on the Cape, too. There are certain architects that are so well-known and respected that when you mention their names that piques interest. That’s the case there. It’s only been on the market a little over a week.
Grover’s Five Favorite Restaurants on Cape Cod
- Pain D’Avignon, Hyannis
- The Red Inn, Provincetown
- Five Bays Bistro, Osterville
- Water Street Kitchen, Woods Hole
- Lobster Trap, Bourne
