
A Building Boom in Boston? - jseliger
http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-building-boom-in-boston-1466690740
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acconrad
What seems unsustainable to me, as someone who is from Boston and lives in
Boston, is how the hell is the supply going to meet demand? It's all luxury
and nothing else - and there aren't that many rich people in Boston. Plenty of
condos are vacant near the seaport, because they are simply too expensive. I'm
on the upper-middle class side of things and I had to buy an ugly, somewhat
distressed property in order to enter the market. It's just insane and not
sustainable, and yet I hear the mayor recently said there would be a housing
shortage for at least the next decade, so it's just this odd combination of
too much rich people housing, and not enough reasonably afforable housing, and
yet rents and house prices are rising 10% a year in some places, which is just
unthinkable.

It's something you can see from 10,000 ft and go "there's no way this is going
to last, but I want to ride the wave while it's still good and get out before
it gets bad."

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Kalium
Almost every unit was once luxury and priced accordingly. Adding supply at the
top of the market reduces pressure other price segments.

And if they stay empty, eventually things will crash and prices will drop.
It's happened in other cities.

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ambicapter
Isn't this just trickle-down for housing?

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Kalium
Trickle-down was that if the rich have more money, plenty will spill over to
the poor. It fails because people who have more money will tend to keep it.

With housing, there's a very low ceiling on consumption. Almost nobody lives
in two apartments just because they can afford to. So without sufficient
supply, you get people who say "I had to buy an ugly, somewhat distressed
property in order to enter the market".

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jimrandomh
Maybe they're building more than they used to, but the rents make it extremely
obvious that in absolute terms, Boston isn't building enough to meet demand.

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ojr
Live in Boston, work in Boston, went to school in Boston, prices are already
so high and its a cold climate city for the most part, I am thinking of moving
to Oakland, the weather is nicer and I can take the train or uber pool to a
higher paying tech job in SF

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sakopov
> After a computer-simulated house tour, he recently paid $1.13 million for a
> 24th-floor one-bedroom at Pierce Boston, a 30-story geometric glass tower
> now rising near Fenway Park that will open in 2018.

> As a condo owner, he will have access to a private sky deck with an outdoor
> kitchen and fireplace, and a glass-floored dining room. For an additional
> $300,000 or so, he can buy one of the building’s 12 private rooftop cabanas.

I'm not sure who this article is catering to. In the 10 years of working in
the tech field I've only met a handful of people who could drop $1.13 million
on a condo, not even a house (assuming this guy paid cash). How is this even
affordable?

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ef4
In Boston & Cambridge there are quite a lot of tech people making $200k, even
as individual contributors. And there are many two-job couples with household
income over $300k.

A million dollar mortgage will cost $6000 per month, which is only 36% of
$200k or 25% of $300k.

So yes, plenty of people can afford it.

> assuming this guy paid cash

There's no reason to assume that, although there _are_ a surprising amount of
cash buyers around here.

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shostack
Where are you getting the $6k/mo on a $1M mortgage figure from?

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ef4
If anything it is pessimistic. It amounts to 7.2% total annual costs, which
would include a jumbo mortgage rate, real estate taxes, and condo fees.

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ambicapter
> “It’s a 24-hour community within the confines of a building—you can choose
> to stay in the entire weekend and be happy and engaged,”

Excuse my language, but who the fuck wants that?

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amalcon
Retirees, for one. Many retirement communities are structured in a way to
allow that. It's appealing to that segment because walking (or using public
transit) takes _forever_ as you age, but driving kind of loses its appeal as
one gets older.

I'm not sure what the appeal is supposed to be for young people, but then, I
know zero young people who could afford one of these units.

~~~
ambicapter
So on the one hand they talk about a growing, thriving, city, and on the
other, they're talking about retirees shutting themselves up in their
apartments? I would think a retiree would prefer the calm and silence of being
nowhere near a city.

~~~
ghaff
Depends. Some certainly prefer to retire far from the crowds if they can.
Others prefer not to be dependent on cars and to be near good culture,
hospitals, and doctors. I wouldn't read too much into that everything
available without leaving the building quote in any case.

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seibelj
I love Boston, I grew up here, went to school here, work here. The
transformation taking place over the last 10 years has been incredible.
Disregard people who want things to never change. At least Boston lets people
build, unlike in SF. If you aren't a total pussy you can buy in JP or Roxbury
and get an affordable place [0]. Everyone wants to live like their rich, and
if they can't all they do is bitch. Yes, rich people have money and therefore
buy nice things. There is still plenty to go around.

[0] [http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Roxbury-Boston-
MA/54232...](http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Roxbury-Boston-
MA/54232_rid/globalrelevanceex_sort/42.331757,-71.058261,42.310244,-71.103323_rect/14_zm/)

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sakopov
Not a total pussy because these areas are sketchy or because you'd be paying a
high price?

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eli_gottlieb
"Not a total pussy" because you're willing to gentrify a formerly working-
class, affordable area to get yourself on the property ladder.

I mean, I'm all in favor of new building. New building everywhere! For
everyone! Yay! But calling someone a "pussy" because they'd rather not be
taking formerly affordable rental housing off the market is pretty nasty.

~~~
seibelj
pussy because people whine they can't live in the single most desirable part
of the entire city, and are too afraid to live where they can afford

