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john_ops · Guest

Hi all-

I'm just wondering what's going to happen in my little slice of Nirvana. The area of Brookline I live in is way too expensive, and always has been. Not that it's affordable (price per sq. foot in the near-to-$400 range), but price inflation here over the last decade has been no where near as dramatic as most surrounding towns (including Newton) [my source for this is Zillow price change graphs].

More interesting is that there is basically no inventory on the market now, and in the "desirable but still affordable blocks north of Route 9" (eg, Aspinwall Hill, Summit, etc., not even talking yet about Chestnut Hill or Fisher Hill), there is just no available housing. No one ever seems to move. I searched for a year for a single-family to come open that wasn't on the T line, before buying half of a two-family with equivalent square footage for less than half of what I was willing to pay for my target SFH with similar square footage. What's going to happen when the rest of the market comes down? If there's no inventory, then it's an illiquid market, so I'd expect more volatility. But my strong hypothesis is that my neighbors don't move much and don't intend to, and aren't that prisoner to real estate values. I guess the real question is how close substitutes are houses in Newton and other outlying areas for houses in Brookline? How much will the rest of the world drag things down here?

Any smart experience from back in the day, the last time this happened?

J

brookline guy · Guest

Dude,
who said there is no available housing in brookline? go to Redfin and do your research, the trick is to not set the max limit in price filter. The truth is there is no reasonable priced housing in brookline. Hey, the high price keep the crimes away. Been living in brookline for more then 15 years, have seen the cheap price day back in 1993 to 1995, I know the fact the price will goes down when the time comes. And the stinky fact is, the higher the price, the deeper it will fall, on percentage. But remember, regardless how much it will fall, Brookline will always be 30% more then Boston area. If you brought in the last few years, YOU WILL SEE YOUR HOUSE PRICE DROP! Stop dreaming that it will not happen to you. Just stay put for 6+ year, you will break even.

john_ops · Guest

Hard Rain · Guest

Using 3br/1750 sq ft in Ziprealty I get 78 listings...

showgunx · Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 60

John_ops,
I got over 100 results that has 3+ bedrooms and 1750+ sq. feet in Brookline when search on redfin. What's up with that, There are a lot of inventories in Brookline. Remember, Brookline is a small town, so over 100 results is not too bad. Just the price is so high that average sq. foot will cost $400+ dollars.
You must be so rich that you can afford a place in brookline, even though it is half of a two-family.