A Back Bay townhouse on Commonwealth Avenue has sold for $21 million - a blockbuster deal that marks the highest home sale in Boston so far this year, according to the listing agent. The property at 59 Commonwealth Ave. is a single-family townhouse built in 1910, located steps away from the Public Garden, the Esplanade, and the Back Bay shopping mecca.
In November, home prices remained unchanged from the month before, with a median listing price of $899,900. The number of listings on the market shrank 9.5% from last month, which is typical for this time of the year in Boston, and homes are also selling at the same pace as the same time last year. Home prices in Boston Typically, home price per square foot in Boston tend to rise in November. But the most recent data shows that the price per square foot decreased by 1.0% compared with the month before.
Sellers accurately pricing homes is becoming increasingly important, even with our perpetually limited inventory. With a list-to-sale price ratio of 95.5% at the end of November, the data shows that being realistic about what your home is worth on the open market is paramount for sellers. We're simply not in a market where buyers are going over asking price on a regular basis.
As housing, utilities, and everyday costs of living continue to climb, a growing share of Massachusetts residents say the math of staying in the Bay State no longer works. In a recent Boston Globe/Suffolk University poll and an informal survey of Boston.com readers, residents said Massachusetts is just too expensive to get by. The Globe/Suffolk survey found that about one-third of Massachusetts voters have seriously considered leaving the state in the past year because of affordability pressures, even as a majority still believe the state is generally moving in the right direction.
If you're like a lot of Boston condo owners, you've probably thought: "I'd like to move... but I don't want to give up my 3% rate." That's fair. That rate has been one of your best financial wins - and it can be hard to let go. But here's what you need to remember... A great rate won't make up for a home that no longer works for you. Life changes, and sometimes, your home needs to change with it. And you're not the only one making that choice.
The real estate market was largely frozen in 2025. Boston condo sales continued to slow, as low inventory, high prices and relatively expensive mortgage rates kept many would-be homebuyers locked out of the market. The annual buyer and seller profile from the National Association of REALTORS® found the share of first-time buyers to be at its lowest level in history, as the median age of these buyers hit a record high of 40.
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Some federal agencies have stopped collecting, analyzing and reporting national data. That makes it harder for markets and policymakers to know what's happening in the economy and make adjustments accordingly. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has not put out a jobs report in October. Employees are being called back to produce an inflation report for this month. Members of the Federal Reserve's board use these reports to make decisions about the interest rates it sets, which effects other rates throughout the market.
In what would be another in a recent string of bright spots for downtown Boston's beleaguered office market, JPMorgan Chase & Co. is close to leasing around 250,000 square feet of office space at the newly built tower above South Station, the Globe has learned. The financial services behemoth will be consolidating somelocal offices, including its wealth management office at 50 Rowes Wharf, into the 51-story skyscraper, according to four real estate industry sources speaking on condition of anonymity.
The property listing data and information, or the Images, set forth herein were provided to MLS Property Information Network, Inc. from third-party sources, including sellers, lessors, landlords, and public records, and were compiled by MLS Property Information Network, Inc. The property listing data and information, and the Images, are for the personal, noncommercial use of consumers having a good faith interest in purchasing, leasing, or renting listed properties of the type displayed to them and may not be used for any purpose other than to
Compass CEO Robert Reffkin's promises for his firm to be a disruptor, and so far, he's doing a good job at that. Reffkin has talked at length in recent years about changing the residential real estate landscape. He's pushed Compass' private exclusives platform, setting the stage for a war with Zillow. Now, Compass is set to acquire Anywhere Real Estate, the second biggest brokerage firm and the parent company of rivals Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Corcoran and Sotheby's International Realty.
In times of uncertainty, one of the best things we can do to ease our fears is to educate ourselves with research, facts, and data. Digging into past experiences by reviewing historical trends and understanding the peaks and valleys of what's come before us is one of the many ways we can confidently evaluate any situation. With concerns of a global recession on everyone's minds today, it's important to take an objective look at what has transpired over the years
