Coldwell Banker Back Bay's Top 10, in Back Bay

So far 2019 has been a great year. Especially for real estate, and even more so in Boston. There are plenty of buildings going up, and homes being updated and renovated. There’s a lot going on. Cranes all across the skyline, “no parking” permits on every block.

Here I wanted to highlight the top 10 sales from the Coldwell Banker Back Bay office, my office, in 2019, in the Back Bay. This list is in reverse order. Photos are from MLS unless I took them, which is noted. A few trends to notice are how quickly the property received an offer, and how close to the asking price the property sold for. The details are below, but in general, these properties sold quickly and for extremely close, if not exceeding, the asking price.

My prediction is that this trend will continue, especially as money gets cheaper. With interest rates dropping, it’s a lot more affordable to borrow money. That’s going to encourage buyers to offer more than they might have previously been willing. This increase in demand will also have an effect on days to offer. The market’s the busiest it’s been and buyers know it and want to act quickly.

#10

50 Commonwealth Avenue #901 - $1,535,000

Considering it went for over 96% of asking price and took fewer than 2 weeks to get an accepted offer, this was a great condo. It’s a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom top floor unit with a fireplace. And the condo fee is low, $824/mo. Sold for $1,535,000, or about $1250/sq ft.

400 Stuart St #24C - $1,770,000

This building is known as The Clarendon and was a Related Beal development. It’s connected to One Back Bay, which is the rental counterpart. They’re separated, but share a few common areas, like the Equinox gym. This was a 1 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo on the 24th floor. Great views! And the highlight for me, is the garaged parking space that’s included. This is a full service building. There are several common areas, a doorman, the works. With that comes a higher condo fee. Here, you’re looking at $1,282/mo. This condo sold for over 94% asking price in under a month. $1,770,000 or $1,560/sq ft.

300 Boylston St #909 - $1,825,000

This is my favorite of the larger condo buildings in Back Bay. It’s called Heritage on the Garden. There’s a library accessible only to residents which serves coffee and tea and the occasional Sunday brunch. Everything is perfectly maintained and detailed. There’s a concierge onsite 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This unit was a pretty big 1 bedroom 1 and a half bathroom duplex. It also includes a garaged parking space. This condo was on the market for 175 days before an offer was accepted. But hear me out, I still think that’s pretty good when you look at the big picture. There aren’t many people out there looking to spend $1,995,000 on a 1 bedroom condo. At the end of the day it went for over 91% of the asking price. Final sale was for $1,825,000. That’s about $1,393/sq ft. These are my own photos.

1 Charles St #14H - $1,837,000

One Charles is another full service condo building. It’s in an interesting location between Downtown, Back Bay, Beacon Hill and the Theatre District. This is a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom 1,571 square foot condo on the 14th floor. It includes a valet parking space. Keep in mind, that will be reflected in the condo fee, which is $1,979/month. On top of having valet parking, there’s also a gym, library, conference room and caterer’s kitchen. There’s also a 24 hour concierge. This sold for 97% of the asking price, $1,837,000 or about $1,170/sq ft.

113 Commonwealth Ave #3 - $2,288,000

This condo is in a great location. Located between Clarendon and Dartmouth, it’s somewhat central Back Bay but closer to the Public Garden. And it’s south facing. It includes a rental parking space directly out back. There are 3 bedrooms and 2 and a half bathrooms. The kitchen is pretty big and user friendly. It took 8 days to get an offer, and sold for over 98% of the asking price. $2,288,000 or about $1,230/sq ft.

476 Beacon St #2 - $2,725,000

Here’s an immaculate 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom floor through condo. Even numbers on Beacon are south facing buildings. So it’s south facing, but also has Charles River views. It’s on the 2nd floor with direct elevator access. One garaged parking space is included. The most surprising thing about this unit for me, is the condo fee. A measly $637.50/mo. Not bad at all. Makes me think they’re a self managed building, but I don’t know that. It was on the market for 20 days before receiving an offer, and sold for $2,725,000 which was over 97% of the asking price. About $1,692/sq ft.

2 Commonwealth Ave #15D - $2,865,000

This is a 1 bedroom condo in the Carlton House, which is the residential condo building attached to the Taj. It’s one of the best locations in Boston. Located on the corner of Arlington and Commonwealth, it’s got views of the Commonwealth Ave Mall and the Boston Public Garden. Probably more, considering this unit is on the 15th floor. This building is similar to Heritage on the Garden (300 Boylston) in that it’s about as nice as you can get. And the condo is similar to #8 in this list, in that it’s an expensive 1 bedroom, 1 and a half bathroom condo. Except that it sold for $1,000,000 more. The building has a 24 hour concierge and you have access to room service from the Taj. One of my favorite restaurants. The condo also includes a valet parking space. Ninety-six days passed before receiving an offer. It sold for $2,865,000, which was 96% of the asking price. Now get this, that’s over $2,500/ sq ft. I don’t think the $2,054/mo condo fee is going to be a problem for the new owners.

192 Commonwealth Ave #5 - $3,350,000

This building is on the corner of Exeter and Commonwealth. Corner buildings means there’s potential for windows on 3 sides, and this condo has just that. There are 3 bedrooms and 3 and a half bathrooms. It’s huge too, with over 2,700 square feet of living space. The three fireplace are working and wood burning. Swoon. There’s no deeded parking, but there was a rental available. Now for the fun part. This condo was listed for 3 days before an offer was put in. And it sold for $3,350,000. That’s 105% of the asking price. Let me reiterate. It sold for over asking, in 3 days.

380 Commonwealth Ave #1 - $4,300,000

If you live in the area, you might be familiar with 380 Commonwealth Ave. That’s the address of the Harvard Club. It’s a smaller building, with only 5 condos. Anyway, it’s a very nicely done building. This was a 3 bedroom, 3 and a half bathroom duplex with over 2,500 square feet of living space. It also includes 2 parking spaces and a gas fireplace. This was another hot property. Four days to offer. Sold for $4,300,000 which was 96% of the asking price.

89 Marlborough St - $9,625,000

This is the only single family on the list. It’s one of my favorite single families in Back Bay. Not only do you get an entire building, it’s open on three sides. This 7,600 square foot dwelling features 5 bedrooms, 5 full bathrooms and 2 half bathrooms and 6 fireplaces. Don’t get me started on all the outdoor spaces, including a roof deck. There are 2 parking spaces behind the building and an au-pair suite with a private entrance. This was on the market for 96 days before receiving an offer and sold for $9,625,000, or 88% of the asking price. These are my own photos.

If you have any questions or are in need of a real estate agent, I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to shoot me an email, give me a call or a text.

willy.charleton@nemoves.com

617 528 8461