Here is the latest installment of By the Numbers, a weekly feature by broker David Bates that drills down into the Hub's housing market to uncover those trends you would not otherwise see. This week, David looks at what you get and don't get for seven figures around the Hub. (Last week, he looked at how fast Hub condos were trading.)
A million dollars used to be notable for what you could get with it: a home, an emu, a monkey (you always wanted a monkey)? In terms of Boston real estate, though, it might be more notable for what you don't get with it now. I scoured some recent million dollar-plus sales, paying close attention to what money couldn't buy.
· At 45 Province in Beacon Hill, a million dollars might put you in the heart of downtown with a custom kitchen and a great view, but it won’t get you 1,000 square feet of living space. Unit #1901, which is 994 square feet, sold recently for $1,025,000; and unit #2307, which is 966 square feet, sold for $1,038,000.
· At 4 Battery Wharf on the waterfront, a million dollars will get you more than 1,000 square feet of living space, but it won’t get you a second bedroom. At this luxury building, which offers hotel services, five one-bedroom condominiums recently sold between $970,000 and $1,025,000. Two-bedroom sale prices started at $1.4 million.
· Unit #210 at 343 Commercial Street on the waterfront is listed at $1.8 million and has NO BEDROOMS and NO FULL BATHS. According to the residential listing’s remarks, what it does have is the “potential” to make your own bedrooms and full bathrooms.
· Will a million dollars get you a Boston home with parking? LOL. In Beacon Hill, you can pay a lot more than a million dollars for a home without parking. In that historic neighborhood, six different single-family homes without secured parking recently sold for more than $2 million each. The most expensive was 69 Hancock, which—sans parking—was able to drive home a $3.7 million price.
And if you want a Boston home with a yard for a million dollars, often times you can fuggedaboutit. Three River Street Place in Beacon Hill is on a 425-square-foot lot and produced a sales price of $1,080,000. Over the last six months, nine Beacon Hill single- family homes with lots less than 726 square feet (1/60th of an acre) sold between $1,080,000 and $2,500,000.
So, if I had a million dollars, I'd buy you a... Boston condo, but not one without a bedroom because that would be cruel.
· Michael Phelps and Boston Condos: They Move Fast [Curbed Boston]