What Jon Lester can afford to buy in Chicago
While Jon Lester’s sale of his Newton home Why Jon Lester may not be returning to the Rex Sox did not necessarily indicate that he would not be coming back to the Red Sox, he is in fact going to Chicago. For $155 million for 6 years.
Which raises the question, obviously, of where he will live. (more…)
Check carefully before you buy that Greek Island
While, in the words of the Wall Street Journal, buying a Greek Island “drenched in sunshine and surrounded by turquoise water”may be the ultimate property dream, there are a few pitfalls of which buyers need to be aware. (more…)
Carnegie Hall comes to Marblehead
As part of this weekend’s Christmas Walk, the Old North Festival Chorus performs two concerts at Old North Church, 35 Washington Street, on Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sunday at 7:30 pm.
The Concerts, in their 34th year, feature a wide range of music, from Bach’s Magnificat to carols, in which the audience is invited to join in, with appearances from the Old North Bell Choir and the award-winning Old North Children’s Festival Chorus. Truly something for everybody and a joyous and memorable evening is guaranteed. (more…)
Marblehead Home Sales best since 2004
This week’s closed sales took the year’s total to 238, the best since 2004. Based on anticipated sales dates the full year will come in around 245.
Source:MLS, Oliver Reports
More positive stories about Revere’s future
As a follow up to my earlier post A positive future for Revere I am including an article Revere focuses on new uses for old racetracks from today’s Boston Globe echoing those positive comments. (more…)
How has the housing market in Middlesex County compared with Essex?
Recently, in response to two of my articles Where have all the condo sellers gone? and Homes for sale in Essex County plummet, a reader wondered whether the numbers would be different for Middlesex County. With the latter containing towns closer to Boston, I suspect the question was whether Middlesex would show stronger results than Essex. (more…)
A positive outlook for Revere without a casino
While there are always differences of opinion as to the benefits vs costs of casino development, economic development offers a more positive and direct impact.
Revere lost to Everett in its bid to develop a casino but that does not mean there is not optimism for its future. (more…)
New offshore leases could “power half the homes in MA”
742,000 acres offshore Massachusetts will be offered for commercial wind energy development in a January 29, 2015, competitive lease sale.
According to an analysis prepared by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, if fully developed, the area being offered could support between 4 and 5 GW of commercial wind generation, enough electricity to power over 1.4 million homes.
(more…)
7 signs you’re dating or married to a real estate agent
Read and be warned!
7 signs you are dating or married to a real estate agent. (more…)
US energy boom may be long-term positive for real estate
Growing US competitive advantage
This Financial Times article Cheap energy is the new cheap labour highlights the growing competitive advantage of the US over Europe as a result of the shale boom (the US is forecast to become the world’s largest oil producer in 2015.)
Oil price slump hurts country budgets
OPEC decided this week not to cut production as a way of trying to halt the slump in oil prices, down some 30% in recent months to about $70 per barrel. (more…)
Detroit property rebounding: the Chinese are coming……
A recent NBC report Chinese investors snap up property in bankrupt Detroit cited Chinese online property site juwai.com as saying that Detroit was the number 4 destination in the US for Chinese housing investors.
That makes me wonder if my posts about Detroit property over the last year Detroit housing market continues to improve and Is Detroit real estate a bargain? have been read in the People’s Republic. Probably not. (more…)
Most expensive homes for sale in Massachusetts
Thanksgiving is next week (how did that happen so quickly?), Hanukkah less than 4 weeks away and Christmas 5 weeks.
Those of you who are well organized will be well along with your shopping. Here are a few suggestions from a Boston Globe/Zillow article for the rest of us:
Most expensive homes for sale (more…)
Would you rent Tom and Gisele’s NY apartment furnished or unfurnished?
According to the Boston Globe Want to live like Tom and Gisele? the biggest decision for a renter is whether to pay $40,000 a month unfurnished or step up to $42,500 furnished. I think I’ll take it furnished. Saves schlepping my IKEA furniture. (more…)
Why Jon Lester may not be returning to the Red Sox
From MLS data I learn that Jon Lester listed his house in Newton on September 28 and sold it on November 5 for the asking price of $1.85 million. So what does that mean for the Red Sox’s chances of re-signing Lester? (more…)
The outlook for mortgage rates in 2015
Fannie Mae this week cut its forecast for the average mortgage rate for 2015 from 4.5% to 4.3%, which compares with the current national average of around 4.1%.
It is worth bearing in mind that a year ago the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) forecast that the 30 year mortgage rate would reach 5.1% by the end of this year.
That, of course is one of the biggest problem with forecasts – they have to be made about the future, which contains so much uncertainty. If only we could just stick to making “forecasts” about the past, life would be so much easier! (more…)
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