Residential Real Estate
Top Residential Real Estate Stories of 2024
As the calendar turns to 2025, there will be more challenges ahead for buyers and brokers alike, and the Fed’s now-cooling ambitions for interest rate cuts have created uncertainty about how many homeowners will be interested in listing once the spring selling season arrives.
More Private Dorm Developments Making the Grade
Private developers are eager to build student housing in Boston. And city officials want more college students out of the rental market. But new dorms face thorny neighborhood politics to make it happen.
Advice for Developers Fills the Luxury Market Niches
Over the past four decades in Boston-area luxury brokerage, Sue Hawkes has followed the market’s shifts during up-and-down cycles. Now, her firm is casting an eye towards the suburbs.
The Most Important New Year’s Resolution You Need to Make and Keep
As we move into 2025, self-care needs to be more than just a resolution – it’s a necessity that should be your priority every day if you want to succeed in business.
Wall Street Investors Return to Boston Bidding Pool
Institutional investors returned to bidder pools for apartment complexes on the market in Greater Boston during 2024, resulting in more competitive sales processes and driving up prices.
Should Sellers Sign Long-Duration Listing Agreements?
The Department of Justice has warned buyers not to sign contracts binding them to the agent showing them houses. And maybe they shouldn’t. But what about sellers?
‘Affordable Housing’ Has a Special Meaning in Mass.
Before joining the chorus of promoters of “affordable housing,” one might want to consider the meaning of that term, and its consequences.
Medford Mayor Objects to Tufts Dorm
Tufts University is trying to reduce the impact its students have on the local rental market. And a state law could help them overcome neighbors’ opposition.
Beacon Hill Gives a Reprieve to Housing Developers
A two-year permit extension in recent state legislation throws multifamily developers a lifeline – but no silver bullet to overcome still-high obstacles to housing projects breaking ground.
Tough Housing Market Forces Container Store into Bankruptcy
The Container Store has filed for bankruptcy protection as the storage and organizational goods retailer with roots dating back to the 1970s grapples with mounting losses and cash flow shortages.
Mass. Home Affordability Worsens in Fourth Quarter
An index maintained by data firm ATTOM shows that every area of Massachusetts got less affordable over the last year. The North Shore and Merrimack Valley were hit hardest.
Mass. Home Prices Up, but New Listings Down in November
The statewide median single-family sale price hit $600,000 in Massachusetts in November even as lower buyer demand – linked to election worries, in one observer’s eyes – kept year-on-year increases low.
Older Homebuyers More Likely to Take Climate Risks
Older Americans are more likely than younger Americans to buy homes in places with significant climate risk. according to a new report from Redfin.
A Homebuyer’s Glossary of Key Terms to Know
Real estate has its differences – like the difference between spec houses and custom-built homes, or between a pending sale and a completed one.
Experts See Housing Market Inching Towards Normality in 2025
With more Federal Reserve rate cuts expected, some see positive signs that 2025 could see a more balanced housing market as the lock-in effect dwindles in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Markets Predicted to Cool Off in 2025
Realtor.com economists project Greater Boston will have a drop in sales while home prices are projected to grow by 5.6 percent year over year.
Mortgage Refi Activity Increased Amid Rate Drops
Amid rate drops in the fall, mortgage refinance activity in Massachusetts increased.
New State ADU Rules Restrict Towns’ Ability to Block
Towns and cities now have answers to what they can – and, importantly, can’t – do to regulate accessory dwelling units.
Real Estate Leaders Say Apartment Brokers Devalued in Fee Controversy
Politicians in Cambridge, Boston and Somerville are all seeking to stop tenants from having to pay apartment broker fees. But two industry leaders say that any potential change could have undesirable ramifications.
One Mortgage Banker’s Plan to Fix the Housing Crisis
To Mark Milam, a mortgage banker and loan originator in Atlanta, many current proposals are like “swallowing an aspirin next year for a headache you have now.”
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