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Boston-Beacon Hill/Back Bay: 617-720-5454
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Boston Real Estate and the Price of Security
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The price of security
By Jerry Kronenberg
Sunday, February 18, 2007 - Updated: 01:46 AM EST
B
uying a home in a low-crime area of Boston doesn t necessarily mean you ll make out like a bandit.
Experts say that given the Hub s sky-high real estate prices, safety often takes a back seat to affordability in determining which neighborhoods draw the most buyers.
First-time home buyers can t afford just any old thing, said broker Judy Moses. There are affordability issues to consider.
Since 1996, median condo prices have actually risen more in percentage terms in hardscrabble Roxbury than on posh Beacon Hill, according to listing services MLS PIN and LINK.
Experts say that s because prices shot up most sharply during the recent housing boom in neighborhoods that had lower prices to begin with.
If you move to the most expensive neighborhood in the world, sooner or later fewer and fewer people can afford it, Moses said.
It s true that some neighborhoods identified in the Herald s analysis as Boston s lowest-crime areas did see sharp price gains over the past decade.
For example, median condo prices shot up 461 percent since 1996 in low-crime areas of East Boston, according to MLS PIN. That s more than twice the 226.2 percent gain seen in Boston as a whole.
But real estate also soared in higher-crime areas in Dorchester, where median condo prices rose 340 percent since 1996.
Everything comes back to price, broker Pat Tierney said.
Of course, real estate agents say low crime rates definitely impress buyers. Safety is the
major factor when it comes to quality of life, said Tierney, who sells lots of homes in low-crime Readville, which Mayor Thomas M. Menino
calls home. It s not just about getting shot or robbed or raped. It s also about just feeling safe walking down the street.
But brokers say people who move to hip locales such as the South End often don t care about crime stats, while some safe neighborhoods still retain old reputations as being dangerous.
When told the Herald found two parts of Charlestown had almost no major crimes last year, local broker John Ford said: I think a lot of people would be surprised to hear that. I m
even surprised.
Ford owns two Charlestown houses, but said some buyers he works with won t even consider that area.
I think people who ve lived in Boston or surrounding areas for more than 15 years have negative perceptions of Charlestown, Ford said. If you went back a few years ago, all the papers were full of stories about crime in Charlestown. But if you walk through the neighborhood today, you d see it s getting better and better. boston condos
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