This was a one bedroom in an excellent South End location. Some people don’t love Yarmouth Street in particular but I am not one of them. The unit is in pristine condition and feels very lightly lived in. The bedroom is large and very bright. The living area sports a totally updated kitchen and an open floor plan.

At $719 per square foot its on the higher end of the price range but I think justifiably so. The South End market is hot and the inventory is limited so anything in premium condition in a solid location should sell at a top tier price. Add in a 75% owner occupancy rate and sold reserve fund and this sub $500k unit is both appealing and buy-able by a huge portion of the market.

Get more pictures and the full MLS sheet here: 32 Yarmouth St – Unit C Boston, MA

This unit clocks in at $358 per square foot which is very low for the location. The unit is a penthouse unit and as such not all of the living area has full ceiling heights. This partially accounts for the low price per square foot. The fact that the building does not have an elevator ie this is a 4th floor walk up also factors in.

All that said the unit is extremely bright and airy with lots of windows and skylights. The finishes are dated but clean and totally livable in the short run. At a list price of $549,000 this is one of the more interesting units I have seen come to market in a while.

Get more pictures and the full listing sheet here: 119 Park St – Unit 10 Brookline, MA

So far we have given you the following bargain picks:

Ashland:

Bargain Property Pick:
Renovated 4 bed 3000 square ft colonial home w/Brazilian cherry wood floors.
Price tag: $429,000

Boxborough

Bargain Property Pick:
2600+ Sqre ft, 4 bedroom (including master suite) home on almost a full acre!
Price Tag: $637,500

Here are the remaining 9 “Bargain Suburb” Property Picks:

Foxborough :

Georgetown:

Holliston:

Brand NEW custom 3000+ square foot 4bed/2.5 colonial

Price tag: $599,000

Maynard:

Newbury:
Be minutes from the beach in this 4 bed/2.5 bath colonial on 2.5+ acres

Norfolk:

Stunning and spacious 5bed/3bath home with beautiful stone work on 2.33 acres

Walpole:

North Walpole 4bed/2.5bath beauty with a large granite kitchen
Price tag: $619,900

West Newbury:
4bed/2.5 bath home with a tennis court AND in-ground pool!

Wrentham:

This home has marvelous views of Cotuit Harbor plus a guest cottage. The property extends to the shore of Cotuit Harbor and includes 60 feet of sandy beach frontage.

Buy with Territory.com and receive up to $67,375.00 cash back

I answered a question on Trulia today that was pretty much identical to the “Boston’s Hottest Markets Round Up …” blog series I have been posting over the last several weeks so I figured why not “cut and paste” and add it to the mix. After all, the suburbs count too!  The big difference between my answer below and the blog posts that I must point out is the addition of the month of July in the overall statistical calculations.

The Question:

How well do home values in newton center hold up? is it quite competitive (multiple competing bids) on homes > $1.5MM now?

The Answer:

It was (and is) a very competitive market (lots of competitive bids depending on the season) yet very insulated so it’s a great place to invest your money. They have great schools and it is close proximity to downtown [Boston]. Almost every offer scenario we were [involved] in with clients was a competitive bid.

Here are some numbers to give you a sense of where the market stood at the end of this spring season compared to 2011. I chose the below dates because the average time to close is about 60 days and the spring market really heats up end of April/all of May leaving July and August as prime months for closings, giving a general synopsis of that yrs market.

7/1/2011 – 9/1/2011

Total Single Families sold:132
Avg. Days on Market: 69
Sale Price to Listing Price Discount: 3%
Sale Price to Original Price Discount: 6%
Median Price: $772,500

7/1/2012 – 91/2012

Total Single Families Sold: 170
Avg. Days on Market: 80
Sale Price to Listing Price Discount: 2%
Sale Price to Original Price Discount: 4%
Median Price: $862,450

As you can see by the numbers the spring market was red hot this year! The median price increased in 2012 about 11% which is astounding. You can also see there were smaller discounts in sale prices compared to the previous year which was probably a reflection of the competitive bid scenarios (drives prices up).

Since you asked up to 1.55M I thought you would be interested to know that in 2011 during the time frame above the most transactions happened in this price point: $1,000,000 – $1,499,999 and in 2012 it was the exact same.

I hope that helps! There is always more [info] where this came from as it is our primary job as exclusive buyer’s agents to educate home buyer’s. Feel free to contact us anytime with questions about a market or home.

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See what all the fuss is about in Newton HERE by scrolling through every property on the market for sale

In this blog we introduce a market with a ton of buzz and activity: Southie! The numbers appear to support what Territory.com predicted as a market-changing summer for this neighborhood. Check it out:

                                            8/1/2011 – 9/1/2011                      8/1/2012 – 9/1/2012

Total Condo’s Sold:                               68                                               90

Average Days On Market:                     79                                              63

Sale Price to List Price Discount:         4%                                              2%

Sale Price to Original Price Discount:  6%                                              3%

Median Price:                                          $362,500                                    $420,500

Territory.com wrap up corner: It’s pretty obvious with a 25% increase in total condo’s sold and a 14% increase in the median price compared to 2011 that this market is RED HOT ! In addition to more sales it looks like the competition was also hot with <2% in SP:LP discount and <3% in OP:SP discount. There were a lot of new residential and commercial development projects which helped propel this neighborhood into the next IT place to live!

See what all the fuss is about and scour everything on the market in South Boston HERE! Need something to do this weekend? Why not get out of the house and check out some Southie open houses for a first hand taste.

Brought to you by, Territory.com, Boston’s Real Estate Agency for Buyers.

Make sure to check back (or subscribe = less work for you!) because more Round Ups are coming your way!

Beacon Hill, one of the long trusted neighborhoods to invest and live, kept in line with its overall steady market trend showing signs of recovery. Check out the statistics:

                                            8/1/2011 – 9/1/2011                      8/1/2012 – 9/1/2012

Total Condo’s Sold:                               19                                               21

Average Days On Market:                     133                                              56

Sale Price to List Price Discount:         4%                                              2%

Sale Price to Original Price Discount:  5%                                              4%

Median Price:                                          $465,000                                    $605,000

Territory.com wrap up corner: One thing didn’t change in Beacon Hill this spring/summer and that was inventory – we can attest to that first hand – real slim pickin’s! The year the big difference appeared to be more demand as consumer confidence got a boost which explains the drastic change in DOM (down around 42% from 2011!) The limited inventory may have been the source of the % sale discounts which were also down significantly from last year (things were selling much closer to list price in 2012) In regards to the median price, well, wow! Quite an increase. When we looked closer at the numbers it appears there were more sales in 2011 <$350K which is likely what skewed the median prices – interesting trend.

See what all the fuss is about and scour everything on the market in Beacon Hill HERE!

Brought to you by, Territory.com, Boston’s Premier Buyer Brokerage.

Make sure to check back (or subscribe = less work for you!) because more Round Ups are coming your way!

Not surprisingly the South End continued on its domination tour, resulting in (our Territory.com experience) many competitive bid scenarios – buyers literally had to have check books ready!

Without further adieu, take a look at these South End condo market stat’s:

                                            8/1/2011 – 9/1/2011                      8/1/2012 – 9/1/2012

Total Condo’s Sold:                              74                                               46

Average Days On Market:                     75                                              35

Sale Price to List Price Discount:         1%                                              1%

Sale Price to Original Price Discount:  3%                                              2%

Median Price:                                          $537,500                                    $583,750

Territory.com wrap up corner: The number of sold inventory dropped but so did the days on market by half showing that while there may have been less to choose from buyers were out to bid! In addition the the SP:OP discount dropped by a percent in August of 2012 and the median price increased by 8%! That could be in part because of the lower inventory coupled with high demand but we have a sneaky suspicion it is also a sign of the South End continuing at high speed on its gentrification train.

Check out all the South End digs currently on the market for sale HERE.

Brought to you by, Territory.com, Boston’s Premier Buyer Brokerage.

Make sure to check back (or subscribe = less work for you!) because more Round Ups are coming your way!

Spreading across just 7.13 square miles, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the smallest (geographically) of the Boston-area small towns and suburbs that we have covered.  Amazingly though, it is also the most populated, active, and well known.  The real estate market in Cambridge saw 714 properties sold in 2011—that’s more than in Needham (309), Charlestown (223), and Sudbury (154) combined!

Home of two of the world’s leading academic institutions—Harvard and MIT—Cambridge (and the people and ideas it churns out) truly is known the world over.  Often called the “city of squares,” this urban landscape is broken down by its five squares:  Kendall, Central, Harvard, Porter, Inman, and Lechmere.  Each square has a unique character and attitude—some more residential and others commercial, some best for eateries and others for shopping.  No matter how you slice it though, Cambridge is packed with more than 105,000 people!  According to the 2010 census, that number makes Cambridge the fifth most densely populated city in the US and second most in the state of Massachusetts (behind its neighbor, Somerville).

With so many people and so little space, the real estate offerings are primarily all condos or multi-families.  A few single family homes spring up from time to time, but they generally always come in at the higher end of the market, which, in our experience, can be the most competitive part of the market.  As you’ll see from the stats below, the inventory has dipped slightly in the last several years, but the average sale price has actually increased by nearly $69,000!

The college and university scene, along with an active resident base, fill the local event calendar nearly year round.  It is quite possible that you could do something different every day or night of the week by sticking around Cambridge alone.  In fact, the city’s website claims that it lays host to at least 90 outdoor events annually.

World-renowned universities, unbeatable cuisine, and the energy of 100,000+ residents–could Cambridge be the place for you?  Here are a few more quick facts to consider:

Real Estate Market Facts:

• 1/1/2004-1/1/2005
• Properties sold = 831
• Median sale price was $443,232
• Homes sold at an average of 99% of their list price
• 1/1/2011-1/1/2012
•  Properties sold = 714
• Median sale price was $511,773
• Homes sold at an average of 97% of their list price

Restaurants and Eateries:

• Craigie on Main (2011 Zagat rated 3^rd most popular restaurant in Boston)
• Hungry Mother (2011 Best of Boston, Best Romantic Casual restaurant)
• Druid Pub
• Punjabi Dhaba
• Central Kitchen

Things to Do/See:

• Harvard Art Museum, including the Busch-Reisinger Museum, a collection of Germanic art the Fogg Art Museum, a comprehensive collection of Western art, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, a collection of Middle East and Asian art
• Harvard Museum of Natural History, including the Glass Flowers collection
• Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard
• Semitic Museum, Harvard
• MIT Museum
• List Visual Arts Center, MIT

Festivals:

Rarely is there a vacancy on the Cambridge fair and festival calendar.  Here are just a few of the highlights:

• Mayfair in Harvard Square (May)
• Riverfest (June)
• Taste of Cambridge (June)
• Dragon Boat Festival (June)
• Cambridge Carnival (September)
• Urban Ag Fair (September)
• Oktoberfest (October)
• Head of the Charles Regatta (October)
• Family Fun Day (November)

Fun Facts:

• Cambridge has the highest percentage of commuters who walk to work.
• Cambridge is 7.13 square miles
• Slightly more than 105,000 residents
• Harvard is the city’s largest employer with 10,718

Notable Residents:

There are far too many to name when it comes to the world of academia, science, and medicine, but the following statistic sums it up nicely:

• At least 129 of the world’s total 780 Nobel Prize winners have been, at some point in their careers, affiliated with universities in Cambridge.

Other famous Cambridge-ites:

• EE Cummings
• James Russell Lowell
• Oliver Wendell Holmes
• Mandy Kaling (The Office)
• Ben Affleck
• Matt Damon
• Conan O’Brien
• B.J. Novak (The Office)

Schools:

• 12 Elementary-Middle Schools
• 3 Public High Schools
  • Cambridge Rindge Latin school just made the top 50 list for Boston Schools
  • 3 Public Charter Schools

Higher Education:

• Cambridge College
• Cambridge School of Culinary Arts
• Episcopal Divinity School
• Harvard University
• Hult International Business School
• Lesley University
• Longy School of Music
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Thinking you might like to call Cambridge home?  If you need more information, market facts, or just some general advice about the area, we’d love to give it to you.  Browse all homes listed here and don’t hesitate to call!

First up, Jamaica Plain (which, btw, got the Gold Medal in our Olympic inspired blog earlier this summer – we’re so good maybe we should head to Vegas and “load up”! ). It has truly been remarkable to watch this market blossom.

Anyway, no need to listen to our opinions when there are actual statistics to prove the obvious: JP IS HOT!

Check this out:

                                                   8/1/2011 – 9/1/2011                      8/1/2012 – 9/1/2012

Total Condo’s Sold:                                34                                               55

Average Days On Market:                     109                                              62

Sale Price to List Price Discount:         4%                                              1%

Sale Price to Original Price Discount:  6%                                              2%

Median Price:                                          $314,650                                    $332,000

Territory.com wrap up corner: Not only did the inventory double from 2011 but the competition also heated up with DOM dropping nearly in half and the sale prices going from 4% discount from list price to 1% ! The median price also went from $315K to $332K showing another sign of strengthening market prices.

See what all the fuss is about and peruse the REAL ESTATE!

Brought to you by, Territory.com, Boston’s Premier Buyer Brokerage

Make sure to check back (or subscribe = less work for you!) because more Round Ups are coming your way!