Boston Real Estate - A Tale of Two Desires

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- It may not be the best of times, but it's definitely not the worst of times! Since 2005,Boston's housing market has been operating at half-speed. Only about 6,000 units were added to meet the city's growing population each year. That's about half of what was being added in the booming years before that. And, many of those new housing units are smaller than their predecessors. It's a sign that some of Boston's new residents are looking for something affordable to fit into their smaller budgets. While the smaller, more affordable trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future, it is now full-speed ahead in Boston - at least, according to the results of a new study from the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University. In fact, the study says that Boston's developers will need to double or triple their efforts through 2020 in order to meet the demand that's expected to hit Beantown!

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How will the fiscal cliff affect the housing market?

But what about 2012? What's the status of Boston's housing market right now? Today, Boston's housing market is all about the slow signs of recovery. Home sales have started to go back up. Vacancies have started to go back down. The number of permits being applied for has started to go back up. The number of foreclosures has started to go back down. Rent prices are also up. Of course, like in many other cities across the country, landlords in Boston raised rent prices when they saw how hesitant people were to buy. In fact, the average Boston rent price is over $1,800 - a record high for the city. And, so far, there's no indication that those high rents are going to come down any time soon. In fact, rent prices have become a real problem in Boston. It has become harder and harder for people to find affordable places to rent. More and more technology companies have moved into the area recently, and they have brought lots of young employees with them. However, many of those employees have been afraid to buy and have been priced out of the renters' market. As a result, the Boston housing market has spent much of the year at odds with itself!