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The Boston Herald reported today new MLS sales data that shows Massachusetts home prices are on the rise. Excerpts from the Boston Herald:

The median price of a single-family dwelling rose to 1,300, an 8 percent increase from 7,000 in June 2009, marking the seventh straight month of year-over-year home price increases.

Condominium sales were also up dramatically from a year ago, according to MLS data. A total of 2,085 condos changed hands in June, up from 1,634 for the same period last year – a whopping 27 percent increase. Median condo prices were up modestly to 7,000 in June, a 4 percent rise from 5,000 a year ago, MLS said.

Read the full article.

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Breaking real estate story: Rush Limbaugh didn’t quite get what he was asking for, but he still got .5 million for his 10-room, four-terraces condo in Manhattan.

Do you think the hand-painted ceiling murals and walls upholstered in silk damask helped the sales pitch? For some reason, we don’t think so.

File under: You can take the boy out of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, but you can’t take the …

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Now the DeLuca’s Market on Newbury Street is also closed. They were reportedly selling some of the produce and canned goods salvaged in the dead of night from the fire-damaged Charles Street store — against city sanitary codes. Someone blew the whistle on them.

File under: Smoked foods.

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Another Beacon Hill building has been hit with a fire. Two residents at 51 Phillips St. were critically injured. One of them apparently jumped out of a third-floor window to escape smoke and flames. The two-alarm blaze occurred early this morning.

Jeff Johnston, 44, a nearby neighbor who works in a real estate office, is credited with knocking down the building’s front door and pounding on apartment doors of residents, alerting them to the fire. Firefighters are praising his efforts.

Needless to say, a big hats off to Jeff.

A question: Wasn’t there a deadly fire on the same block of Phillips within the past decade or so?

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A blog reader who calls himself ‘Winston’ made the following comment on this blog in reference to 45 Province Street which stated:

Looks like 901 closed for .14M

Three units in total have closed this year, 901, 1106, and 1207, for an average psf around 0.

In total, 19 units have sold for M, leaving about 120 units vacant.

The Landesbank that provided the construction loan has the right to send this to auction in November 2010 and I would expect that to happen ASAP as the bank is eating the operating expenses. That’s when I recommend you, Laura, and any real estate brokers prepare by picking the units you want and assessing their value in advance.

I would like to respond to this comment. First, I spoke with a “source from 45 Province St” who informed me that this comment written by “Winston” regarding the bank fianancing issues on 45 Province Street is incorrect. I was also told that a representative from 45 Province Street in the next few days will release a statement to the press that they have secured bank fianancing, and that this real estate development is on solid ground. I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything new.

What are you hearing about 45 Province Street?

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What can go wrong …

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c

The Spilling Fields – BP Ad Campaign

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes
Political Humor
Tea Party

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June 13, 2010 total Boston condo inventory – 2,314

June 13, 2009 total Boston condo inventory – 2,238

June 13, 2008 total Boston condo inventory – 2,489

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Not quite. But the debate over the extent of home ownership in the U.S. is getting hot and heavy.

There’s definitely a worry that Congress will throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water, eliminating rules and tax benefits that played no part in the subprime-mortgage controversy. Lawmakers will end up harming the entire economy – not just the housing market – if they go too far.

But a conversation should be started on this issue. Should there be new caps on how much interest can be deducted on tax forms? Do we really need to directly or indirectly subsidize refinancings and second homes? What is the right percentage of American households that should be renting vs. owning? Is there a way to encourage renting without further burdening taxpayers?

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Check out this scenario: you want to list your Boston condo. You’d like to interview agents and pick the best one. What if you could do it all on the Internet? You’d fill out a questionnaire about your home — how many rooms, location, and then ping the info out to a handful of agents who come back and make you a formal offer on your property in a matter of hours — here’s how much it should list for, here’s what I’ll charge as a broker commission to list it. And by the way, here are my qualifications: all done on a website called called iBidBroker.com

This is happening in Canada, with major success, and I can see this coming to Boston soon. Oh, and don’t shrug and say, “That’s Canada, this is the U.S.” Better wake up and smell the Canadian bacon as soon as possible.

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Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies has good news and bad news.

First, the good news: “We are not Las Vegas, South Florida or Phoenix,” says center director Nicolas Retsinas, predicting the Massachusetts housing market will recover before other states.

Now the bad news: A sustainable housing recovery isn’t possible while unemployment remains so high – and economists think high unemployment is going to be around for a while.

Hmmm. Well, how about them Celtics? Kobe was a little scary for a while last night. But our men in green fought back valiantly.

File under: Looking on the bright side of things.

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