Boston Real Estate Blog

FYI: foreclosure crisis hitting some neighborhoods more than others

John Keith — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:56:06 +0000

One of the coolest exhibits I’ve ever heard about is the Panorama at the Queens Museum of Art.

Here are some details on it, from ArtInfo.com:

There were more attention-grabbing attractions at the 1964–65 New York World’s Fair, but the one that caught the eye of many natives was the Panorama of the City of New York. The idea of scale-model cities had been around since medieval times, but the 9,335-square-foot model of New York was enormous …

Forty-five years on, the Panorama is going strong … Now, it is being used as an element in an art project that illustrates the current housing crisis.

As part of a project for the Queens museum’s “Red Lines Crisis Housing Learning Center” exhibition, artist and urban planner Damon Rich has placed neon-pink triangles on the model, showing blocks where there have been three or more home foreclosures in the last year.

The project paints an interesting portrait of the city, with the bulk of the foreclosure blocks in Brooklyn (582) and Queens (140), which both have many single-family homes. The Bronx has 151 triangles, concentrated in the Wakefield neighborhood, while the least populated borough, Staten Island, has 140. Manhattan, which is mostly apartment buildings and has many residents either too rich or too poor to be affected by the crisis, has just two.

Again, “Manhattan, which is mostly apartment buildings and has many residents either too rich or too poor to be affected … has just two.”

Sound familiar?

The foreclosure crisis in Boston is specific to neighborhoods including Dorchester, West Roxbury, and Roslindale. The downtown neighborhoods including Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and the South End, are largely unaffected.

Lenders Saying No Thanks to Loan Mods

JohnF — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:29:15 +0000

Here’s one study that is likely to get a lot of attention: The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston reports in a new paper that lenders aren’t modifying many loans for homeowners at risk of foreclosure because it’s not profitable for them.

Surprising? It is if you believe many of the experts and homeowner advocates who have been saying that foreclosing on a property is much more costly and time-consuming for a lender than renegotiating a loan.

But what I find more startling is this tidbit tucked in the paper’s conclusion: 30 to 45 percent of borrowers who had loans modified end up falling behind on their loans again within six months.

“For this group, the lender has simply postponed foreclosure, and, if the housing market continues to decline, the lender will recover even less in foreclosure in the future,” the Fed researchers write.

That’s a risk that most lenders aren’t going to be eager to take.

Read the full report: Fed Real Estate Loans

Source: Warren Group

Boston Apartments - Renters Market

JohnF — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:46:04 +0000

Renters have it so good right now! Not only do they have bragging rights about not jumping on the homebuyer bandwagon ~~potentially losing a ton of money~~, but now they have rentals galore to choose from.

Reuters.com reports that in the second quarter, the national vacancy rate for apartments hit a 22-year high of 7.5%. Real-estate research firm Reis Inc. says that even compared with last year, vacancies are up 1.4 percentage points.

According to MLS Beacon Hill has 56 apartments for rent for August 1st and/or September 1st.

File Under: Boston apartment rents heading south

Boston Luxury Condos & Emails

JohnF — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:11:21 +0000

Peter, a blog reader has a question. “John, why are you slamming 45 Province Street when they advertise on the homepage of your blog?”

Ans. Peter, I’m not going to be “slamming” 45 Province Street ~~ever again~~ today. Actually, I’m going to help promote their newest idea. Last week the developer started to advertise some of their luxury condos as apartment rentals on MLS. Two bedrooms range from $7,000.00 to $8,000.00 per month. If interested call the Marketing Group at 617-482-4510 or stop by 45 Province Street to schedule a showing.

I was just on 45 Province web site and I thought you might find this link (under press release) interesting. It’s a Boston Herald story over a year old dated June 11th 2008.

Despite the gloom about the economy and the real estate market, 25 percent of the (45 Province St) tower’s units are already spoken for, Robert Epstein said.

45 province Boston luxury condo press release

PS- I would like to thank the marketing folks at 45 Province St for advertising on the Boston Real Estate Blog. Good luck with your sales and rentals

Is Greenspan responsible for the real estate bubble?

JohnF — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:16:48 +0000