Along with Beacon Hill, the Back Bay is one of Boston’s finest and most desirable neighborhoods. The Back Bay not only offers exclusive and beautiful Victorian brownstone homes and high-rise luxury residences, it also provides upscale shops, fine restaurants, libraries, churches, schools, and lots of history. Many of the streets, including Newbury and Boylston Streets, are lined with boutiques and unique restaurants which are added perks for living in these prestigious areas of Boston. For a family looking to move into the Back Bay, residential streets such as Commonwealth Avenue, Marlborough Street, and Beacon Street, offer a quiet atmosphere within the hustle and bustle of the city limits.
The Back Bay neighborhood offers numerous activities for its residents. As an example, the well-known Esplanade and Hatch Shell feature frequent concerts and festivals, while the Commonwealth Avenue Mall and Paul Dudley White Bicycle Path offer space for strolls, exercise and family recreation.
The Back Bay is convenient to all areas of Boston and is served by a number of public transportation services including the MBTA Orange and Green subway Lines via Back Bay Station, Symphony Station, Copley Station, Prudential Station and Hynes Convention Center.
Boston Back Bay MLS Statistics
If you are looking to relocate to the Back Bay, general home prices for a one bedroom condominium range from approximately $350,000 to more than $5 million for larger units. The median rental price in the Back Bay is currently $2,800 per month. Based on Massachusetts multiple listing service (MLS) data, in the fourth quarter of 2013 the average sales price for condominiums in the Back Bay was approximately $1.3 million on 105 unique homes sales, compared to $1.4 million on 141 sales in the same period the year before. That’s an average of $917 per square foot for Back Bay condos in 2013 versus an average of $850 per square foot in the fourth quarter of 2012 – an 8% increase in Back Bay home prices.
How quickly are Back Bay condominiums selling? In the last quarter of 2013, the average number of days on the market (DOM) was 54, compared to the same period in 2012, where the average DOM was 71 – a 24% quickening in market velocity. Based on available data, the trend of Back Bay properties spending fewer and fewer days on market continues into 2014.
The average sales price for January and February 2014 was approximately $1.604 million compared to $1.612 million average listing price; that’s an average sale price of $986 per square foot in the Back Bay, and nearly a 100% sales to list price ratio. There were 35 condominiums sold including 10 on Commonwealth Avenue and 8 on Beacon Street over the first two months of 2014.
There are currently 74 properties for sale in the Back Bay, including 19 on Beacon Street, 19 on Commonwealth Avenue, 9 on Stuart Street, and 7 on Boylston Street. The Clarendon Back Bay, which is located at 400 Stuart Street, and the Mandarin Oriental Boston condos, located at 776 Boylston Street are luxury residential condo developments in the Back Bay. The Residences at the Mandarin Oriental Boston are located on the upper levels of the five-star hotel building offering wonderful hotel amenities including room service, cleaning services, security, valet parking, and more.
There are many other enjoyable features and properties in the Back Bay neighborhood worth exploring. Feel free to contact me at [email protected] if you have a specific property in mind that you think you might like to buy or rent.