Beacon Hill studio located on a charming private way for $175,000

Brighton Studio on Brookline line with bamboo floors, granite kitchen, high ceilings and extra storage $167,900

Dorchester, gorgeous gut renovated 3 bedroom/1bathroom condo with cherry wood floors and 2 parking spots located between the purple red line and major highways $199,999

It was a hard choice for our Editor this week since loads of beautiful condo’s surfaced. The below 2 stuck out among the group:

Gorgeous 1 bed/1bath in the south end with amazing upgrades and layout.

Beautiful 1bed/1bath in beacon hill with gorgeous exposed beams, charming character and fantastic quintessential beacon hill location.

Since our editor had such a difficult time choosing we put the remaining new to market picks on this link.

(Sigh…) Artist lofts, they really are hard to beat. You gotta love the unique converted warhouses, factories, schools, brewerys, and/or churches. There are always great open floor plans, high ceilings and tons of character and charm.

The true lofts - not newly built lofts - however, are hard to come by. We, over at Territory, have fallen in love with a couple over the years … There was Fulton street, the one on Kingston (tear) - elevator opened into the huge living space plus incredible custom roof deck with a bar - and the most recent one at 305 Cambridge (sniffle) that had incredible original pine floors, huge ceiling height, 2 full beds/baths and 2nd level for chilling out with a good book.

Well, we may not see a kingston or camrbridge street come back on the market anytime soon but, hey, there is always a good rebound, right? See below:

East Boston: Beamed ceilings, original brick walls, cherry hardwoods with a new kitchen. $269,000

South End: 11foot ceilings, exposed brick, 1200 square feet and 10 windows, plus dinner and drinks at Gaslight. $309,900

Leather District: Beamed ceilings, including exposed ducts, original hardwoods, big windows, the works. Nice price per square foot. $649,000

South Boston: Now this is interesting. Loft due to the high ceilings. Charm includes original hardwoods and fantastic windows. We really like-y. $579,900

Jamaica Plain: Converted police station. This place is awesome! 3000+ square feet, near the train and trails on Jamaica pond. Reminds me of the liberty hotel. It’s down to $214 a square foot … a steal! $649,900

Brighton: Built in 1930 and converted to a huge loft in 2003, this place has ceiling height up to 22 feet plus bamboo floors and 2 car garage parking. $617,000

North End: Amazing brick barrels ceilings! 2bed/2bath with gourmet kitchen plus huge garden patio. $779,000

Via the Boston Redevelopment Authority…

Applications must be picked up in person at Allston/Brighton CDC - 320 Washington Street, Brighton, MA - at the following times:

March 18, 19 & 21: 9AM-5PM
March 20: 9AM-7PM
March 22: 10AM-2PM

Applications must be returned, in person, by: April 3rd, 2008 by 4PM to 197 Portland Street, 6th Floor Boston, MA 02114 or postmarked by April 3rd, 2008 and mailed to 197 Portland Street, 6th Floor Boston, MA 02114

For more information on this opportunity please review the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s Affordable Housing Page or contact Tina at 617-242-0080

This is the big debate going on now that the Boston Zoning Commission has legally limited the number of undergraduate college students who can live together (to four).

Some argue that the law is discriminatory and while by definition this is certainly true, from a legal standpoint “students” are not a protected class which means that from the courts point of view it’s not discriminatory.

Other say that the law is simply unenforceable. It will be interesting to see what the Boston Inspectional Services department comes up with when it meets Tuesday to develop an eforcement plan.

Historically courts have upheld a city’s right to enforce occupancy limits for unrelated residents but never has a city specifically singled out college students. This may be the fatal flaw in the bills architecture.

Councilor Michael Ross, the measure’s chief proponent, made said the ordinance simply restores previous regulations barring more than four unrelated people from living together. “People should have realized that, eventually, the other shoe was going to drop,” he said. - Boston.com

I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Ross is forced back to the drawing board on this one.

The Boston Zoning Commission set a limit of four yesterday on the number of college students who can live together off campus, a far-reaching decision that could spur a citywide crackdown on crowded student housing. - Boston.com

The new law, supported by neighborhood groups, college officials, and city leaders, is intended to increase residents quality of life by reducing the number of rowdy late-night parties but the truth is that the law will likely have a strong negative effect on very group that endorsed it.

Arbitrarily limiting the number of inhabitants that can legally occupy an apartment indirectly sets a limit on the value of the apartment. With the simple logic that if each student can spend up to X on rent the maximum value of an apartment is now 4X divided by the Capitalization Rate.  Areas like Allston or Brighton, that contain much of the city’s supply of rental buildings/units, are likely to see property values plummet thanks to the new law.

We believe the best way to predict a market’s future is to examine simple supply and demand statistics. With Mr. Adam Smith as our inspiration we have examined supply and demand for real estate listings in Boston’s sub-neighborhoods.

We looked at single family, multifamily, condo and land listings. To determine supply we measured the number of listings currently on the market. To determine demand we measured the absorption rates (average number of listings sold per month) over the past year. All figures have been rounded off.  Arguably, the higher the supply to demand ratio the more pessimistic one should be about the market’s future.

Allston:
Supply = 51 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 10 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 5 months

Back Bay:
Supply = 183 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 37 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 5 months

Bay Village:
Supply = 3 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 1 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 3 months

Beacon Hill:
Supply = 107 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 14 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 8 months

Brighton:
Supply = 144 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 33 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 4 months

Charlestown:
Supply = 161 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 30 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 5 months

Chinatown:
Supply = 1 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 1/12 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 12 months

Dorchester:
Supply = 721 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 60 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 12 months

East Boston:
Supply = 259 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 19 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 14 months

Financial District:
Supply = 1 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 3/4 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 2 months

Fort Hill:
Supply = 19 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 3 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 6 months

Hyde Park:
Supply = 166 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 18 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 9 months

Jamaica Plain:
Supply = 151 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 44 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 3 months

Leather District:
Supply = 18 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 3 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 6 months

Mattapan:
Supply = 109 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 7 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 16 months

Midtown:
Supply = 32 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 4 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 8 months

Mission Hill:
Supply = 8 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 3 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 3 months

North End:
Supply = 58 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 8 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 7 months

Roslindale:
Supply = 151 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 22 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 7 months

Roxbury:
Supply = 132 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 6 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 22 months

Seaport District:
Supply = 24 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 4 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 6 months

South Boston:
Supply = 271 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 56 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 5 months

South End:
Supply = 221 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 54 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 4 months

The Fenway:
Supply = 78 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 13 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 6 months

Theatre District:
Supply = 0 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 1/12 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 0 months

Waterfront:
Supply = 91 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 9 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 10 months

West End:
Supply = 23 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 3 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 8 months

West Roxbury:
Supply = 121 listings
Demand = absorption rate of 29 per month
Supply / Demand Ratio = 4 months

It’s hard to put a deal together in today’s market because most buyers are thinking one thing while Sellers are thinking something completely different. Sometimes it takes deal or two falling apart to readjust everyone’s expectations. Today we bring you a number of listings that are Back On Market (BOM). These are all nice properties that have gone under-agreement but for one reason or another the deals have fallen apart. You might find that these sellers, who have had their pot of gold ripped away at the last minute, are a little more willing to make a deal. Take advantage, it’s the Territory Way.

70688281 8 Oakvale Road, Framingham
70704269 142 St. Botolph Street, Boston - Back Bay
70707993 71-73 Beechcroft Street, Boston - Brighton
70681283 158 Endicott Street. Boston - North End
70700552 20 Upland Avenue, Boston - Dorchester
70641467 135-137 Salem Street, Boston - North End