By Ruth Bloomfield of The WSJ

Oceanic House, built in 1907.  PHOTO: JASON ALDEN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

On April 10, 1912, the “unsinkable” RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton [...]

How to win a bidding war when buying a home from CNBC.

Today's housing market is arguably one of the most competitive in history. A record low supply of listings, coupled with extraordinarily high demand from the largest generation, mean fast-rising home prices and more people going after the hottest properties. Bidding wars are now the [...]

Powell 'very clear' on rates, says economist from CNBC.

John Ryding, RDQ Economics chief economist, and Phil Orlando, Federated Investors chief equity market strategist, provide their outlook on the markets and economy after last week's comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell on interest rates. We don't need a Fed put, says Orlando.

Felix Mizioznikov/Shutterstock

Curbed Boston: By Tom Acitelli  Apr 2, 2018, 8:06am EDT

The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority and a handful of private companies, including Vertex, are working toward launching weekday ferry service from Lovejoy Wharf near North Station to the Seaport District-slash-South Boston waterfront.

The authority has issued a request for proposals to underwrite the service for a year, with an eye toward extending it for three additional years. If the authority can line up the private funding—and it looks like it can—then service could start in late August or September.

It’s not clear what the price of a commute would be, but the effort would utilize what one authority official described as the region’s “blue highway”—its waterways and harbor—which are far, far less clogged with traffic than its real highways.

The ferry service would also be the latest big change in the area around North Station. Stay tuned.

 Aaron Terrazas at Zillow Research

Mortgage rates fell over the past week to their lowest levels in a month and are now below where they stood at the end of February.

The week was a repeat of the familiar pattern we have seen repeatedly for the past few years: Just as macroeconomic fundamentals are poised to push rates higher, geopolitical fears seize the headlines, prompting a financial flight to safe assets and pushing mortgage rates downward.

Looking only at interest rates and not at the broader context, U.S. home shoppers have been indirect beneficiaries of a tumultuous world buffeted by fears of financial instability in China and Brexit over the past two years, and now fears of a global trade war. The decline in mortgage rates is all the more telling because it occurred the same week that the Federal Reserve increased short-term lending rates. After steepening somewhat during the first two months of 2018, the yield curve is again flattening.

Beyond ever-present (and difficult to predict) geopolitical risks, markets are likely to watch for inflation data due Thursday as well as speeches by two Federal Open Market Committee voters early next week. Markets will be closed for the Good Friday holiday, which could temper volatility, although borrowers should expect conservative pricing going into the long holiday weekend.

By Tom Acitelli  

Curbed Boston Newsletter

A little late March snowfall can’t stop time: Spring has technically arrived in Boston, and soon springtime weather will as well.

Here are several photographic reminders of just how gorgeous the city can look.

↑ The Public Garden tulips will soon bloom in oceans of red, orange, and yellow, including around the famed statue

Courtesy of NABB  

       at the Prudential Skywalk

This Year's Lineup of Back Bay restaurants and purveyors:

This year a portion of the proceeds will benefit The Women's Lunch Place.

Musical entertainment provided by the Berklee College of Music.

For more information about this truly enjoyable night out and how to buy tickets, click on the link [...]

Residence 11H at the Carlton House. Stunning views with a European feel.
Please click to view more information on this beautiful property.

https://2commonwealthboston.com

Four Seasons two bedroom overlooking the Boston Public Garden!

Priced to sell at $2,575,000 or $1,798 per SF; $621 below the average sale price per SF of the last five front facing residence at the Four Seasons at 220 Boylston Street.  At 1,432 SF with two bedrooms, two baths, garage parking and views into the Public Garden, that leaves [...]

Curbed Boston: By Tom Acitelli  Mar 19, 2018

A scaled-back proposal to build a primarily residential tower over the Massachusetts Turnpike next to the Hynes Convention Center won a key approval from the Boston Planning & Development Agency on March 15.

Developer Weiner Ventures had originally proposed building two buildings where Massachusetts Avenue meets Boylston Street: One 566 feet and 39 stories, the other 283 feet and 24 stories.

The newly passed proposal includes plans for just one of those towers—and it would now reach to 484 feet and 27 floors. It would include 108 condos atop two floors of retail and restaurant space as well as two levels of parking.