Allston-Brighton as an Alternative to the Fenway?

A lot of people who can’t afford a condo in neighborhoods like the Back Bay or South End go casting about for reasonable alternatives to city life in other neighborhoods. And there IS a “substitute” for just about every downtown neighborhood you can think of. For example:

• Someone looking for a condo in the North End, where the median sales price of a condo is about $550K, might consider lower-priced Charlestown, where the median condo sales price is only $375K.
• Someone pining away for the cobblestone streets of Beacon Hill (median condo sales price $707K) might take a look at East Cambridge (median sales price $575K).
• How about Jamaica Plain instead of the South End or Brookline instead of the Back Bay? I even know a few Cambridge types who vacated that city for cheaper East Boston.
• And here’s one more: Allston/Brighton instead of the Fenway. The median sales price of a condo in the Fenway is $340K. In Brighton, $248K.

According to a recent Boston Herald article, Allston’s housing market is “growing up” as more young professionals and immigrants move into the area, supplanting absentee landlords and the student crowd. According to Bob Imperato of the Allston Board of Trade who was quoted in the Herald article, “Allston is benefiting because it is surrounded by more affluent communities, (but is) very convenient to the city, affordable and has a nice retail area.” Realtors handling that neighborhood concur, saying they see more owner-occupants purchasing and fixing up two and three-family houses that were once occupied by students.

That’s good news for long-time Allston/Brighton residents who have grown impatient with a sometimes out-of-control student population. And for new residents enjoying Allston’s proximity to restaurants, the T, Cambridge, and the Mass Pike — all for a fraction of what they would pay in the Fenway— it’s also good news.

Here are three of the newest listings in Allston-Brighton:

38 Breck Avenue, #2
Brighton
BEDS:3/BATHS:2
SQ.FT: 1471
$419K

65 Lanark Road, #8
Brighton
BEDS:2/BATHS:1
Sq.Ft: 746
$319,500

79 Parsons Street
Brighton
BEDS:5/BATHS:1
SQ.FT: 1890
$525K

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