While the JP real estate market has been strong this year, the September rental season saw a slight decline, according to real estate agent Rachael Kulik at JP Rentals.
She says that in general, more and more people have become interested in Jamaica Plain, and prices have consistently been rising.
Kulik provides an example of this, saying that a duplex rental on the Pond rented for $3,200 three years ago, but that same unit rented for $6,200 this year.
However, rental prices have decreased “significantly” in September, possibly balancing out the increases in June. Currently, there are still more units than expected on the market.
“Many people tested the market this year with high pricing, and June had much better luck doing that,” Kulik said. “This year September did not – for the first time in a while many units are going either half or no fee.”
The most popular, and highest priced, rentals are in Pondside, Main Centre and Stonybrook.
For sales, the market didn’t slow much during the summer like it usually does, according to Karen McCormack, real estate agent at McCormack & Scanlan Real Estate.
“That said, with many of the properties that were heading four, five, and six offers each, and over the past two months, we have seen two and three offers,” McCormack said.
In the six months from January 1 to June 1 of this year, there were 183 residential properties sold in JP, according to McCormack. Over the last three months, 220 residential properties have been sold—however prices remained consistent. For example, the average multi-family property sold for $1.078 million in the first half of the year, and so far in the second half of the year the average sale price was $1.072 million.
“What this tells me is that there has been very little change in the market that has translated into sales prices going up or down,” McCormack said.
While she says that it’s still a super strong market for sellers in Jamaica Plain, McCormack noted that with properties getting less offers than they have in the past, there may be a coming shift in the market.
“With so many new properties being built in Jamaica Plain, it seems likely that within a year or so we will have more properties than we have buyers,” McCormack speculated.
McCormack says she hasn’t seen a big change so far in the real estate sales market considering new inventory being developed. But, if all the condos that are being built come on the market, she does expect to see a shift.
In the week of Sept. 2-Sept. 9, the most expensive property closed was a three-family at 29 Brookside Ave. for $1,205,000, according to McCormack. The least expensive property sold in that time frame was a two-family at 59 Mozart St. for $400,000.