DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE
WHERE/WHEN APPLICABLE
HISTORY

DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE:
The trend of converting rental apartments into condominiums is strongest in Jamaica Plain and Roslindale. According to residents, condo conversions can represent opportunities for more affordable home ownership, accelerate gentrification trends, and make the demand for rental housing greater. Apartment owners often renovate the units to increase their value, and then sell the units for profit.

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WHERE/ WHEN APPLICABLE:
Between 1990 and 1999, the total number of condo sales in Jamaica Plain almost tripled, increasing 13.2 points in market share to 63.2% of all residential sales in the neighborhood. In 1999, condo sales comprised 26% of residential sales in Roslindale, only 19% of sales in Roxbury and Dorchester, and less than 14% of sales in Mattapan. The cost of condominiums oscillated in Mattapan in the late 1990s, rising from $58 per square foot in 1998 to $137 in 1999, then falling dramatically in 2000 (Condominium trends: A Close-up Report, City of Boston Department of Neighborhood Development (DND); Real Estate Trends, DND). Still, in 2001 only 18 condominiums were sold in Mattapan, while 279 were sold in Jamaica Plain (Trends Annual Report 2001, City of Boston Department of Neighborhood Development).

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HISTORY:
Condominium conversions in Boston neighborhoods have occurred in waves, beginning with two and three-family homes in Jamaica Plain in the mid-1980s. After a brief but dramatic decline in condo values in the early 1990s, a second wave of conversions took place in the mid-1990s in Jamaica Plain and the increase in sale prices has been steady for several years. For example, according to Homes in Boston, a real estate agency, the average sale price for a condominium in Jamaica Plain in 1999 was $178,128. One year later the price had climbed 24% to $220,704.

The trend in conversion spread to Roslindale in the 1990s, and took off in the neighborhood in 2001. In Roslindale, condo sales were almost 52% higher in 2001 than 2000, according to The Warren Group, which publishes Banker & Tradesman. While 64 condos were sold between January and November in 2000 in Roslindale, 97 condos were sold between January and November of 2001. During this period, the median price for a condo in Roslindale jumped by 24% from $144,600 to $180,000 (Aglaia Pikounis,  "Condominium Conversions Resurgent Throughout Hub," Banker & Tradesman, Feb. 25, 2002).

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