Mass. home prices dropped 18 percent

The median selling price for a single family home in Massachusetts fell 18.3 percent last month on a year-to-year basis, and it was also the worst February for condo sales in 13 years, the Warren Group reported.

Last month, the median selling price for a single-family home in Massachusetts was $245,000, down from $300,000 in February 2008; it was the sixth straight month that the median price has been under $300,000 and the sixth straight month that prices have declined by double-digit percentages, said the Warren Group, a Boston firm that tracks local real estate data and publishes Banker & Tradesman.

During February, 1,825 single family homes were sold in Massachusetts, down 14.6 percent from 2,138 in February 2008, the firm said. Of last month's total, 206 homes, or 11.3 percent, were bank-owned properties. In February 2007, there were only 48 sales of bank-owned single-family homes, the Warren Group said.

Foreclosed buildings to get new lease on life

The so-called Massachusetts Foreclosed Properties Initiative was outlined by Gornstein and Governor Deval Patrick in New Bedford, one of many Massachusetts cities with neighborhoods damaged by foreclosures. Last year, mortgage holders seized more than 12,000 Massachusetts homes in foreclosure, more than triple the number in 2006, according to Warren Group, which tracks real estate transactions.

CHAPA will help to connect banks and other lenders that own foreclosed properties with local housing organizations and municipal agencies. Participating companies, including the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and Bank of America Corp., will allow eligible purchasers to see the properties before they are listed on the open market. Banks also agreed to sell multiple foreclosed properties in certain neighborhoods to local organizations.

Ramirez's Boston condo hits the market for $8.5M

BOSTON (AP) — Manny Ramirez is severing one of his last ties to Boston.

The former Red Sox outfielder put his Boston penthouse condominium on the market for $8.5 million on Wednesday, the same day he agreed to a $45-million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Michael Doherty of City Life Real Estate, the listing broker for the 37th-floor condominium at the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, tells the Boston Herald it's the "most magnificent apartment" in the city.

In addition to panoramic views of the city, the 4,500-square-foot condo has four bedrooms, six bathrooms and three valet parking spaces.

Boston developer Ted Raymond is plowing ahead with his plan to build a pair of skyscrapers

The proposal also calls for a hotel, stores, restaurants, and a pair of residential buildings along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

The firm selected to design the development is Cook + Fox Architects, of New York, officials familiar with the project said.

The design was not included in plans filed yesterday, but a rendering posted on the project's website shows two sleek glass towers open to large amounts of natural light. The larger of the two towers, rivaling the 52-story Prudential Building in height, would be a shimmering three-tiered building that culminates in an angular crown.

The housing meltdown has created opportunities for buyers previously priced out of Boston’s neighborhoods

Consider these homes: There’s a three-bedroom row house on Jeffrey’s Point in East Boston with a fenced in yard for $159,900. It was listed last fall for $199,900 and has been on the market for 165 days. In Mattapan, a nine-room Colonial with four bedrooms and 1 baths near Mattapan Square is listed for $229,900 after a $20,000 price drop since last year.

For buyers willing to consider condominium living, there are more options to live in Boston. The choices include 385 condos listed under $250,900 from $44,900 for a four-room unit in a six-family home on Beethoven Street in Roxbury to $250,000 for a two-bedroom penthouse in a Fenway brownstone.

More than three dozen of the condos are located in the Allston-Brighton neighborhoods. Among the choices are a basement two-bedroom with one bath and a deeded parking space at 1776 Commonwealth Ave. in Brighton within steps of Cleveland Circle for $229,000. There’s also a one-bedroom unit in a four-story brick building at 86 Glenville Ave. in Allston for 189,900.

Real estate firms cut commissions

Some top downtown real estate firms are adding insult to brokers’ financial injuries.

Moving to save costs — and, some industry insiders suspect, drive out underperformers — prestigious firms are taking sweeping steps, even reducing commission rates on the few deals brokers are able to close.

At Cushman & Wakefield of Massachusetts Inc., the commission scale has been changed so brokers have to do more business to make the same amount of money.

Commissions are paid on a sliding scale and generally step up based on how much business brokers bring into a firm.