Renovation of the Claflin Building at 20 Beacon Street is approaching completion, with an expected delivery date of July 2007.

The development includes three condominium flats at 2,400 square feet each, and one spectacular penthouse duplex boasting 4,000 square feet and a private roof deck overlooking the Back Bay and the State House. You’ll be steps away from The Federalist and Scollay Square restaurants, and your morning coffee can be had at the Capital Coffee House (the paper plates might keep you away, but they do make a mean French Toast).

These custom built condominiums will be outfitted with extremely high-end finishes, custom created chef kitchens and breathtaking architectural details. All residences at the Claflin Building include garage parking. Prices range from $2.395 million to $4.6 million.

Please contact us for more information, or to setup a showing.

A recent National Association of Realtors member survey shows that those 60 and older make up the largest real estate blogging population in Massachusetts.

A paltry 1% of Realtors in Massachusetts have a blog, compared to the national average of 4%. According to a new report from Gartner, less than 2% of all Internet users are frequent content contributors. Between 10% and 15% contribute occasionally and more than 50% are reading or watching what the communities are discussing (free-loaders?).

The rate at which the number of blogs doubles has slowed over the past several quarters (according to Technorati), so it is apparent at this point that those who are blogging now will make up the core of content contributors moving forward, and we will only see slight gains in additional bloggers in the future (granted, the numbers are still large, but only 13% of Realtors in Massachusetts who don’t currently have a blog say they plan to blog in the future). The lopsided numbers of Massachusetts versus the rest of the country is somewhat surprising given the strong base of tech-savvy web innovators in Boston.

From a Boston Condos perspective, the several top blogs in Boston real estate offer a “feet on the street” look at what is really going on in the market. The great thing about blogs, especially Boston condo related, is that they give you a timely and informative look at the happenings right down the street.

Get out your hard hat, construction continues on The Clarendon, a new construction building in the Back Bay, at the southeast corner of Clarendon and Stuart.

You may have accidentally stopped by the construction site yourself, in hopes of going to what was once the Back Bay Post Office (which is now on St James). The Clarendon Back Bay will be a mixed-use development, offering on the order of 400 residential units with an ownership and rental mix, a restaurant, and a new post office serving the Back Bay and surrounding areas.

The official condo development project address is: 131 Clarendon Street, 400 Stuart Street, and 390 Stuart Street.

Back in April, we highlighted the new Flip This House TV show starring Richard Davis, which is called The Real Deal The Real Estate Pros. In the special season opener for the show, Richard Davis made his way up to the Boston area to buy a piece of the Brockton Rox. At first, we had a hard time confirming that this was actually true, however, the Brockton Rox now display Richard as one of the eight Owners of the Brockton Rox on their front-office information page.

The Real Deal The Real Estate Pros TV show, following Richard and his crew, has definitely put out some decent episodes, but truly, it’s a neck-and-neck race for the best Flip This House show between The Real Deal The Real Estate Pros, and Flip This House - Than and Paul. The consistency between the two shows is that they follow around a good group of folks that are having a good time doing what they are doing, and making a good profit to boot. It’s hard not to watch the Flip This House - Montelongo Team, but there’s just something off with this show, you get done watching, and you feel like something shady has happened.

Interested buyers looking at Harborview Navy Yard should be happy to hear that move in day is scheduled for September 10, 2007. Approximately 20% of this new Charlestown Waterfront 224 unit condo development is sold, and there continues to be a great selection of floor plans available.

You can lock in on anything from a studio to a duplex penthouse, anywhere from $359,000 to over $1 million, along with at least one parking spot in the four-level parking garage below Harborview, as well as a storage unit.

Here is a general look at what you will get for your money at Harborview Navy Yard (note that each type of unit has a +/- range of around 300 square feet given the number of bathrooms and the overall configuration):

• Studios (+/- 550 square feet) starting at $359,000
• One-bedrooms (+/- 700 square feet) starting at $409,000
• One-bedrooms plus a study (+/- 900 square feet) starting at $485,000
• Two-bedrooms (+/- 1,000 square feet) starting at $509,000
• Two-bedrooms plus a study (+/- 1,250 square feet) starting at $689,000
• Premier Units (+/- 2,000 square feet with exclusive placement) starting at $1,077,000

Contact us to learn more and setup a visit to the sales center, and an appointment to tour the development itself.

There has been an upswing in readers searching for average price of condos in Boston, and we thought we would answer the question based on information in the Boston MLS. Here is the average sales price for Boston* condos that sold during the past three calendar years, including the five months that we have seen thus far in 2007.

• 2004: Average Price = $579,637
• 2005: Average Price = $640,171
• 2006: Average Price = $640,240
• 2007: Average Price = $729,665

How accurate is this information? You need to take it with a grain of salt, or perhaps a few grains. This information represents the average price for all the condos that sold across Boston (note the selected neighborhoods below, focusing on the core of Boston only). Keep in mind, the average is heavily influenced by the mix of homes that sold during a particular year (i.e. 2007 is on track for more ultra-expensive homes to be sold than in 2006).

Whereas the average Boston condo price may not provide a completely accurate picture of market pricing, assessed values are oftentimes inaccurate as well, or perhaps sometimes not a fair representation of price for various reasons. Use the information as a guide, noting the items that can have a significant impact on the number.
*Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Chinatown, Financial District, Leather District, Midtown, North End, Seaport District, South End, The Fenway, Theatre District, Waterfront, West End

Construction is steaming along on the $110 million East Boston Waterfront condo development called East Pier (formerly known as Portside at Pier One), situated right next to beautiful Piers Park. The East Pier condo development will encompass eight buildings, and offer almost 500 residential units along with East Boston Waterfront.

Everybody in East Boston is talking about East Pier, it’s going to be huge, 500 units along the Waterfront literally built on a pier, with parking underneath!” says one East Boston resident.

The East Boston enclave is busting with development and renovations. We’ve featured a property on Webster Street lately, and will have a feature on a single-family Victorian rehab within the next month.

We had the pleasure of stopping in to see the rehab work at 261 Webster Street in East Boston yesterday. The renovations looks great, and the views look even better. A real neighborhood feel with water views from every unit, and now, a price reduction, making the three units that much more affordable.

Unit 1, with a private balcony and deeded yard rights perfect for the green thumb in you, is now being offered at $309,000. Unit 2, with beautiful French doors leading out to a private balcony with partial city and full water views, is now being offered at $339,000. And Unit 3, the penthouse, which offers unparalleled views of the city via a private deck and deeded roof rights, is being offered at $359,000. East Boston waterfront condos at less than $400 per square foot, not bad!

Construction continues at the Bryant on Columbus, a new 50-unit luxury condo development in the Back Bay at 303 Columbus Avenue. If you recall, the Bryant condos will be known not just for their class and style, but for their size. Units will be built out with a minimum of two bedrooms - there is talk of including a limited amount of one-bedroom units into the layout of the building, but the development team has yet to make a definitive decision as to their inclusion.

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Been looking for a 21% return on your investment? Aren’t we all.

If you are shooting for return on your investment, you might want to consider what Boston’s North End has to offer.We took a look at the first five months of 2006 and compared them to the same months in 2007, and the North End saw just over a 21% increase in average condo sales price, and almost a 9% shift upwards in median condo price. Check out the details for yourself.

Our favorite new development (below $1,000 a square foot) in the North End remains 44 Snow Hill. The only unit that remains for sale in the 5-unit gut-rehab is Unit 3, which is the two-bedroom model unit that is on the second floor, being offered at $499,000. 44 Snow Hill is a boutique luxury development in the heart of the North End, and is one of the finest across Boston. If you want to scoop up the final unit, contact us.