For those shopping real estate in Boston’s metro area, Malden provides an economical option very close to the city. Not only is it within 15 miles of downtown Boston, it ranks in the top 5 most affordable metro suburbs for both single family and condo property types. Median sale prices are 20-40% lower in Malden than they are in Boston across all property types and the market for Malden real estate is relatively active in terms of deals (528 sales in the last 365 days).

Malden Home Prices By Type
The 1 year median price of condos for sale in Malden is $398K, the second lowest condo price in out of the 45 neighborhoods that make up Metro Boston behind Randolph ($276K). Malden’s median sale price for single family homes ($598K) ranks 4th lowest among suburbs and 6th lowest amongst all. Multi family homes for sale in Malden sold at a 1 year median of $812K. This was the 7th lowest mark amongst suburbs and 8th lowest among all metro neighborhoods for multi family properties.

After a wild two years, the apartment rental market in Boston is leaner than ever as apartment availability has dipped below pre-COVID levels. Recent rental market data shows a current availability rate of 1.98%, a 30% drop from its January 2020 level. Considering at that time we were seeing some of the lowest apartment availability on record, the outlook for Boston’s growing off-campus housing contingent looks challenging as we head into 2022.

Prior to the pandemic, one of the toughest challenges faced by Boston’s rental market was how it could grow inventory to meet rising demand. The lack of affordable housing options has always been a challenge for many Boston residents, students included. However, that important conversation was punted during COVID when apartment supply figures ballooned as a result of remote learning.

Now that students are back and availability of Boston apartments is lower than ever, it’s time we revisit that conversation and put action goals in place to meet the growing demand. If it isn’t addressed soon, apartment prices will soon eclipse their pre-pandemic levels and make it even more difficult for many low-income students.

South Florida has been making headlines recently for its impressive housing market growth. The most recent data from Zillow shows that out of the 100 largest US metros, the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area ranks #5 in year-over-year average rent price increase (+24.71%). They also rank #5 for YOY median sales price increase at +23.34%.

As a result of these surging prices, Miami’s income to housing cost ratios are now as high as some of the most expensive markets in the country. As a result, some industry experts are predicting the South Florida housing market to cool in 2022. While it’s unlikely that South Florida will sustain the same price growth margins as last year, there’s plenty of evidence that suggests the metro’s market momentum may push through 2022.

Here are 5 reasons why South Florida’s housing market will stay hot in 2022:

It’s no secret that the digital space within the real estate industry has become increasingly centralized over the past decade. Tech giants have emerged as the primary source for lead generation for most agencies. So unless you’ve been working hard to carve out your own digital real estate to promote your business, you’re likely reliant on one or several of these portals to keep leads rolling in.

So is it possible that a digital David can gain independence from a tech Goliath? It is absolutely possible if you’re willing to learn new concepts and work hard for it. It won’t happen overnight, because like anything worthwhile, it takes time. In this article, we’ll teach you how to build your own digital ecosystem that will grow and engage followers, generate leads, and wow clients.

Boston’s real estate market for multifamily has exploded over the past decade. Rising rents, increasing enrollment at Universities, and a short supply of properties has sent prices for Boston real estate through the roof. The 1 year multi-family median for the city of Boston is currently $1.02M. That’s enough to make you shake your head if you’re an investor looking to break into Boston’s competitive multi-family market.

Based on this median sales price, we can get a picture of what kind of cap rate Boston is providing investors at these prices. We can project what kind of yearly revenue a multi-family property would yield by multiplying the average rent price in Boston by twelve. We can then divide that into the median price of multi family homes for sale in Boston to get a rough estimate of average cap rates.

Allston’s apartment rental market looks poised for a record year in 2022. The Allston rental market is just starting to warm up, and apartment availability and vacancy rates are currently sitting at all-time lows. Just last March, Allston’s apartment availability hit an all-time high (27.52%) as we endured the worst of the COVID-related supply glut. This drastic supply swing will undoubtedly push Allston rent prices upward in 2022. In fact, the most recent Allston rental data suggests that it has already begun.
Allston Apartment Supply Rollercoaster Ride

The current real-time availability rate (RTAR) for Allston apartments is 4.27%. That marks a -46.63% drop from its pre-pandemic level in February 2020, and a massive 84.48% drop from its all-time high set just 11 months ago.

The most recent MLS data suggests that the real estate market in Boston may be cooling down as we begin 2022. The 90 day median sales prices for single family homes in Boston for Q4 2021 ($758K) marked a -7.05% decrease compared to the previous quarter. That is one of the few times in the past decade where Boston’s quarterly single family price has slipped.

Condos and multi family homes in Boston saw median prices remain relatively flat during the same time span. Boston condos sold at +1.34% higher in the final quarter of 2021 compared to Q3, while multi-family properties in Boston saw their 90 day median price drop by -1.43%.

Total monthly sales saw a steep drop off at the end of last year. Boston recorded 656 residential real estate transactions in December of 2021, which is down -21.25% from August’s total sold (833). While it’s normal for sales to drop off slightly in the last few months of the year, this was a larger margin than we’re used to seeing.

One of the most interesting trends to watch in real estate over the past 2 years has been the impressive growth achieved by suburban markets around the country. The pandemic caused seismic shifts in housing markets, as populations dispersed away from densely populated areas and sought more spacious living accomodations where social distancing was easy and remote work was comfortable. This was especially true in Boston, where in 2020, Downtown’s vacancy rate soared to over 25% and apartment availability was lowest in the outer areas.

Much of this demand shift was a combination of remote work and remote learning at local Universities. Now that most of Boston’s student’s have returned in Fall 2021, we can get a better sense of whether the shift in demand was a temporary phenomena or if it’s a trend that’s here to stay. Supply levels for Boston apartments contracted rapidly in the latter half of 2021, while the recovery was slower in most of the metro’s suburban markets.

As a result, the rent price growth experienced by most of the suburban markets in 2020 has reversed course. Currently 8 out of Boston’s 12 closest suburbs are showing a 2 year loss in average rent price. Here are the 4 neighborhoods where rents have dropped the most.

Fenway’s apartment rental market has been on a wild ride since COVID began. In 2020, Fenway’s real-time vacancy rate (RTVR) rocketed to 17.87% in September. That marked the 2nd highest RTVR recorded by all neighborhoods during the pandemic, behind Downtown (25.24%).

From there, Fenway’s apartment supply issues only worsened. By April 2021, the real-time availability rate for Fenway apartments (24.37%) was 3rd highest out of all neighborhoods behind Allston (26.8%) and Downtown (25.37%). Then, starting in April, we witnessed one of the fastest market corrections in history. At that point, the worst of the pandemic seemed to have passed and schools announced plans to reopen in fall 2021.

Boston apartment renters came out in full force as initial COVID fears began to wane. We witnessed what was arguably the fastest rental supply absorption in Boston’s history. Fenway’s RTAR contracted to 0.61% by late November, down an astonishing -97.53% in a 6 month span. It was also down -80% from Fenway’s pre-COVID RTAR in late November 2019 (3.05%).

The neighborhood of South Boston is the pride of Beantown in more ways than one. Not only is it an iconic neighborhood steeped in rich history, its housing market has been one of the rising stars of the past decade. It is the dream of many local investors to own an investment property in South Boston, but with real estate prices as high as they are, profitability may seem out of reach.

If you think the ship has sailed on investment properties in South Boston, think again. There are some opportunities for profitable investments if you know what type of properties to look out for. In this article, we’ll analyze the estimated NOI for different types of homes for sale in South Boston. We are calculating NOI expenses based on a standard loan and the median sales price for each type of property. We’re also deducting yearly standard operating expenses (property taxes, homeowner’s insurance and maintenance). Annual operating income is based on the average rent price for apartments in South Boston multiplied by 12.