Expert Provides Update on Boston’s Luxury and Emerging Markets
David Bates / May 26, 2016-11:47 am
Debra Taylor, who launched LINK (the Urban MLS) approximately 25 years ago in Boston, invited a select group of real estate agents to the Millennium Tower sales office and revealed the latest information about Boston’s luxury condominium market and emerging neighborhoods.
Many Boston brokerages advertise their listings on LINK; the property database company asserts that it has the “most comprehensive data on Downtown Residential Condominiums, Townhouses, and Buildings.” Taylor said the goal of the presentation was to provide agents with metrics and high-water marks that would detail “where the market is today.” Early on, she displayed a chart that visualized the median price in Boston’s luxury market for the last five years, basically confirming that Boston’s real estate rich are getting richer. “If you paid a million dollars for a condominium in 2011, that same condo is now worth $1,580,000,” Taylor said.
Taylor also informed the group that the percentage of condominium sales classified as luxury is increasing in Boston. LINK defines “luxury” as condos in full-service buildings with more than 15 units and parking. According to the company’s review of sales, about one out of five Boston condominium sales were luxury sales in 2005. Ten years later, in 2015, it was about one out of four. Looking at the pipeline of future sales created by high-end projects such as Millennium Tower, Taylor added that it won’t be long before one out of every three condo sales in the city will be considered luxury.
After noting that Boston luxury condominiums sold on average at $1380 per square foot in 2015 – a new record – Taylor did a deeper dive on happenings at two of Boston’s most recent and most noteworthy luxury developments: 22 Liberty and Millennium Tower. Sherry Walker, a Back Bay Realtor, didn’t attend the event, but said that LINK as a whole offers much more detailed data on specific Boston buildings than its biggest competitor, MLSPIN.
Taylor said it was possible that Millennium Tower may close $1 billion worth of condominiums in 2016 and that if the luxury tower achieved that, it would be the most ever for a single building which was not located in New York City. The LINK founder also revealed some buyer demographics at the ultra luxury tower, informing the 30 or so agents at the presentation that about 70% of the buyers are from the U.S, 25% are foreign, and 25% are investors. Taylor called Millennium Tower the “most successful sell out in the city” and indicated that approximately 70% of the sales were co-brokes with local agents.
The LINK founder identified Midtown, East Boston, Bulfinch Triangle, and Fenway as emerging markets in Boston, providing details on diverse projects in various stages of development in each of the markets. Noting the significant impact the sizable projects will have in these neighborhoods in the near future, she said, “It doesn’t take 20 years to build a community when you have the opportunity for large floor plates.” Taylor said what is happening at the street level – retail, restaurants, cafes, etc. – is also critically important in emerging markets.