(To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)
BELMONT, MA-A cooling housing market and rising construction costs have put a damper on condo sales throughout the region. But here, one developer is betting that even in the worst of times, luxury sells. Burlington-based Northland Residential is finding that to be true with its project the Woodlands at Belmont Hill.
The 121-unit townhouse-style project already has signed purchase agreements from 32 buyers. An average unit is priced at $1.3 million. Northland executives anticipate sales will be so brisk, that the complex will sell-out long before it is completed in four years.
The community features newly built luxury units along with five condominiums set within the historic brick Upham House and four residences carved out of a historic carriage barn, all set on 150 acres of conservation walls just seven miles from Downtown Boston.
"When you put together a good developer, an exquisite site, wonderful architecture and a great location, you have all the ingredients to capture the affluent buyer who doesn't want to go downtown but wants to feel like their in a home that is maintenance free and highly customized to their own taste," John Dawley, director of acquisitions for Northland, tells GlobeSt.com.
According to industry figures, while overall condo sales are down this year, sales of higher end units continue to expand, primarily because wealthy buyers are less affected by the downturn that has impacted the regular condo market.
In Boston, sales of luxury units are also strong, even though some complexes have slashed prices and resorted to unusual tactics to sell off units, like Folio Boston, at 80 Broad St., which auctioned off the remainder of its units in October.
At the Residences at the InterContinental, only 47 of the 130 condo units are still available for sale at $975 per sf. The North End's Battery Wharf has sold half of the complex's 100 units for an average of $1,250 per sf while at the Mandarin Oriental, which is still 18 months away from completion, all but one of the 50 condominium units are under agreement at prices that average $1,600 per sf.
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