Here is your monthly “Gladstone Gazette” update – a quick summary of what I’m working on, learning about, and interested by in the world of real estate.
- A Yardi Matrix study of 17 million apartment units concluded that rents came down in expensive cities, and stayed flat / grew in more affordable cities. NYC, San Jose, and SF led the pack with rent declines in August (4-6% down), while Columbus and Sacramento led on growth (2% up). Despite softening rents, Boston Capital had no problem holding a $133M first close of its second multifamily fund.
- According to Redfin, home prices hit a new record, reaching a national median of $320,625. In MA, I wanted to dig in to see how the growth looks in Single Family Homes vs. Condos. Based on year-to-date MLS data, median SFR sales price is up 9.4% vs. Oct. YTD 2019, while condo median sales price is up 6.3%. In Suffolk County (Greater Boston), the median condo sales price is up 2.4%.
- As the MA eviction moratorium expires the week of the 19th, a 171m rental assistance plan will be put to the test. The Federal eviction moratorium is still in affect, so we will see how smoothly the rollout of this program goes and what the impact will be on tenants and landlords.
- We made another sale this month, a duplex we renovated and rented over the past two years. This was a really smooth transaction – not always the case when selling a tenanted building. The buyer wanted to live in the top floor unit and keep the existing tenant in the 1st floor unit. We worked with the upstairs tenant to find a new apartment, and he left with no pushback or hard feelings.
- Spencer ave (Chelsea) with OnPoint is gearing up for our first open-house this weekend!
What I’m..
Listening to: Why are Cities (Still) so Expensive from Freakonomics, featuring an insightful interview with San Francisco Mayor London Breed (who grew up in public housing).
Following: The Suffolk Downs redevelopment project. After three years of community engagement and over 450 community / stakeholder meetings… HYM development made it through a “marathon” 6 hour meeting to secure BPDA approval. I’ve been to several of the community meetings for this project, and am wildly impressed by how patiently and thoughtfully Tom O’Brien and the HYM team have incorporated community feedback into the project scope.
Thanks for reading and please give me feedback by responding to this e-mail. What do you want more or less of? Let me know!
Cheers,
James
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