This article could be one of the most important you read in 2024, whether you currently own property in Massachusetts or if you’re thinking of buying property in Massachusetts.  There’s a good chance you’ve never heard of this act or know very little about the specifics. So let’s get started! Who wrote the MBTA Communities Law? This law came out of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC), which was established to create more homes and lower housing costs for MA residents.  There was a period of public comment on the law and then on 8/10/2022, the EOHLC issued ..read more

Introduction As we look back on 2023, I’m excited to share with you the following data pertaining to Somerville, Massachusetts, broken down by specific neighborhood: The median prices that 1- 4 bedroom units actually rented for in 2023. The median prices that 2 and 3 family properties actually sold for in 2023. If you want to skip the high-level data summary and jump RIGHT to details on your neighborhood only, click on one of the links below: Gilman Square ✦ Magoun Square ✦ East Somerville ✦ Sullivan Square ✦ Davis Square Porter Square ✦ Ten Hills / Assembly Row ✦ Ball Square ✦ Union Squ ..read more

Introduction As we look back on 2023, I’m excited to share with you the following data pertaining to Cambridge, Massachusetts, broken down by specific neighborhood: The median prices that 1- 4 bedroom units actually rented for in 2023. The median prices that 2 and 3 family properties actually sold for in 2023. If you want to skip the high-level data summary and jump RIGHT to details on your neighborhood only, click on one of the links below: Central Square / Cambridgeport ✦ Harvard Square ✦ Kendall Square ✦ Alewife ✦ Porter Square ✦ Davis Square Data Summary This data could be valuable ..read more

The Petition As some of you may have heard, the city of Somerville has been pushing for a “home rule petition” that would allow for rent stabilization, also known as rent control. In November, the Legislature Matters Committee for the city of Somerville voted to approve the petition. It now appears likely to be heading to the state house for a vote (pending a final vote by the city council in mid-December). If the petition heads to the state house, the state legislature will need to give it the thumbs up. If that happens, the city of Somerville would then take feedback from community members t ..read more

Hi All! Happy Holidays! For the December market report, I am going to share one data point related to multi-family inventory. In last month’s newsletter, I discussed how multi-family transaction volume was way down, but prices were not. This month I’ll share a related metric on months supply of inventory. This metric refers to the number of months it would take, given current sales pace, for the current inventory of multi-family homes to sell off completely. See the chart below for data comparing Q3 and Q4 of this year to last year. (Note that we are using data through December 1st of this yea ..read more

Big news came out last month, when NAR (the National Association of Realtors) lost a federal case in Missouri. This ruling could completely change how real estate transactions are conducted nationally. The case started when home sellers were unhappy having to pay their seller’s agent commission as well as a commission to the buyer’s agent to attract interest from buyers. The jury ruled that NAR was conspiring to artificially inflate commissions for home sales (essentially helping the agents and not the sellers) and awarded $1.78B in damages, which could potentially be tripled to well over $5B ..read more

Hi All, Happy November! For this market report, we’ll be looking at the strange happenings in the multi-family sales market. As we get closer to the end of 2023, let’s look at how the multi-family transaction volume has been performing this year, compared to 2022. The first thing you’ll notice is that total transaction volume is significantly down across the board: As of November 1st, 2022 YTD there were 315 closed multi-family transactions between Cambridge, Somerville and Medford. As of November 1st, 2023 YTD, there were only 203 closed transactions. This is a massive drop-off of about 1/3r ..read more

Hi All! We have an exciting announcement - due to popular demand, we have decided to expand The Sage Report to monthly instead of quarterly. Our goal is to continue to provide you with local market updates for multi-families and rentals in the Cambridge/Somerville/Medford area coupled with my on-the-ground experience. Let’s get into it! Multi-Families Days on Market Up in Somerville Average days on market (DOM) for existing multi-families (meaning current, active multi-family inventory as of 9/30/23) is up significantly year over year in Somerville in particular, jumping from 41 DOM on 9/30/22 ..read more

Rental property investors can't always find the prime properties to purchase from their own searches. In fact, it's often advantageous to seek out helpful real estate agents if you want to find - and scoop! - the best rental properties before competing investors. That said, some real estate agents are better for investors like you than others. Let's take a look at how to find an investor-friendly real estate agent by looking for a few key attributes. Why Look for an Investor-Friendly Real Estate Agent? It may be a wise idea to look for a real estate investor-friendly real estate agent because ..read more

Buying a new investment property is a major decision, whether you’re a new real estate investor or an experienced one looking to add to your portfolio. Each purchase costs hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, so it’s important to know key investment property red flags to watch out for in your search for a new buy. If you’re not sure what to look for, read on. We’ll break down eight common red flags to watch for in any new real estate investment property. Unpopular Location If a rental property is in an unpopular location, it will matter how attractive it is since many tenants won’t wa ..read more