Sympathy for the landlord
If you thought home sellers had it bad, take a look at what landlords are dealing with.
The Herald takes a look at some pretty interesting stats that point to a glut of available apartments in Boston, including in some tony neighborhoods.
The story highlights a Beacon Hill landlord with four of his five units vacant.
The number of available rentals listed on MLS has roughly doubled in the last year, to 535. Back Bay’s stock of empty apartments has nearly tripled to 149.
Ironically, Boston’s push to get more students out of the neighborhoods and into rentals may be making a tough market even tougher, the story notes.
Thanks City Hall.
Of course, there’s our wonderful, job killing economy and the great condo market bust, which has thrown at hundreds of condos onto the market as rentals.
Examples of condos converted into rentals, from the Carruth in Dorchester to the Harbor View in the Charlestown Navy Yard.
But that’s not all. There’s also the growing phenomenon, detailed recently in the Globe, of strapped homeowners taking in boarders to help make their mortgage payments.
That’s a harder trend to track, but it’s clearly taking prospective renters out of the traditional market.
Finally, don’t forget about huge spike in foreclosures, mainly in East Boston, Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan. Some of those one-time, triple-decker condo units are also hitting the market again, this time as rentals.
I don't suppose this will earn me any kudos, especially from embittered renters out there.
Still, if you think it is tough selling a home in this market, try being a landlord.
