Demo listing
$585,000
Demo Residence Four · Boston, MA
2 beds2 baths1,120 sq ftBrownstone condominium
Listing courtesy of [Listing brokerage] · Demo data
Living in Boston, MA
Brownstones on filled marsh, three-deckers on the hills,and every commuter rail line running home to it.
Boston is the capital of Massachusetts, a Suffolk County city of 675,647 people (2020 Census) made up of 23 neighborhoods. Its housing is mostly attached and multi-unit: brownstone and brick row houses near the center, and triple-deckers, mostly built between the 1880s and 1930s, farther out. Single-family sales are a small and unrepresentative slice of the market: The Warren Group's Boston row counted 50 in 2025 against 1,611 condo sales, and it reports neighborhoods such as Dorchester, Jamaica Plain and Charlestown on separate rows. Every MBTA commuter rail line ends at South Station or North Station, and I-93 and I-90 meet downtown.
About Boston
Puritan settlers founded Boston on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630, set aside Boston Common in 1634 and opened Boston Latin School in 1635. Much of today's city is made land: the South End was built on tidal marsh beginning in 1849, and the Back Bay was filled between 1857 and about 1882, which is why their streets run in regular grids of Victorian row houses. Boston became a city in 1822 and grew by annexation, taking in Roxbury in 1868, Dorchester in 1870, Charlestown, Brighton (including present-day Allston) and West Roxbury, which included Jamaica Plain, in 1874, and Hyde Park in 1912.
The city recognizes 23 neighborhoods, from Beacon Hill and the North End to Hyde Park and West Roxbury. On Beacon Hill, Federal-style brick row houses, the first built between 1803 and 1805, climb toward Charles Bulfinch's gold-domed State House of 1798. Frederick Law Olmsted's Emerald Necklace links about 1,100 acres of parks over 7 miles, from the Back Bay Fens through Jamaica Pond and the Arnold Arboretum to Franklin Park. The Big Dig, which concluded in December 2007, moved the elevated Central Artery of I-93 into tunnels, and the Rose Kennedy Greenway opened on the vacated land in October 2008. The 2.5-mile Freedom Trail runs from downtown to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown, and public ferries reach several of the Boston Harbor Islands. This is one city guide for now; neighborhood guides are planned.
Boston plans its own zoning: the state's MBTA Communities rules do not apply, because Boston is exempt from the Zoning Act, including Section 3A. A city ordinance signed in April 2024 created the Boston Planning Department, and most former Boston Planning and Development Agency staff moved into it that July. The Zoning Commission adopted six Squares + Streets districts on April 17, 2024, allowing mixed-use buildings and multifamily housing in neighborhood centers near transit; Mattapan Square was mapped first, in May 2024, Roslindale Square followed on May 22, 2025, and a December 2025 amendment added two more district types. Since October 2024, projects of seven or more units must make 20 percent of them income-restricted, up from 13 percent. In 2024 the city approved projects totaling 3,575 net new residential units, 1,210 of them income-restricted.
Homes in Boston
Boston's triple-deckers were mostly built between the 1880s and 1930s, and the city has studied new versions of the type for neighborhoods including Roxbury, Mattapan, Dorchester and Hyde Park. Near the center, the Back Bay, South End and Charlestown are known for 19th-century brownstone and brick row houses. Condominiums dominate sales: The Warren Group counted 1,611 condo sales and 50 single-family sales on its 2025 Boston row, so the single-family median of about $3.1 million describes a very small set of homes and not the city as a whole.
Neighborhood guides16 Boston neighborhoods
Where you mightlive in Boston.
Back Bay
Back Bay is a Boston neighborhood built on tidal flats filled between 1857 and 1882, with 18,190 residents in 2020 (2020 Census, Boston Planning Department tabulation).
Beacon Hill
Beacon Hill is a Boston neighborhood on the hill behind the Massachusetts State House, between Boston Common and the Charles River, with 9,336 residents in 2020 (2020 Census, Boston Planning Department tabulation).
South End
The South End is a Boston neighborhood built from 1849 on filled tidal marsh around Boston Neck, with 30,904 residents in 2020 (2020 Census, Boston Planning Department tabulation, which counts Bay Village with the South End).
North End
The North End is a Boston neighborhood of about a third of a square mile in the city's northeastern corner, bounded by the Rose Kennedy Greenway and by Boston Harbor on two sides, and settled in the 1630s.
Charlestown
Charlestown is Boston's oldest neighborhood, founded in 1629 on a peninsula between the Charles and Mystic Rivers and annexed to Boston in 1874, with 19,120 residents in 2020 (2020 Census, Boston Planning Department tabulation).
East Boston
East Boston is a Boston neighborhood across Boston Harbor from downtown, built on several former islands joined by landfill and laid out on a street grid by the East Boston Company in the 1830s.
Jamaica Plain
Jamaica Plain is a Boston neighborhood of 4.4 square miles between Jamaica Pond and Franklin Park, part of the town of West Roxbury until it was annexed to Boston in 1874.
Roslindale
Roslindale is a Boston neighborhood about six miles south-southwest of downtown, between the Arnold Arboretum and the George Wright Golf Course, and was part of the town of West Roxbury until annexation to Boston took effect in 1874.
West Roxbury
West Roxbury is Boston's southwestern neighborhood, bordering Brookline, Newton, Needham and Dedham, set off from Roxbury as its own town in 1851 and annexed to Boston in 1874.
Hyde Park
Hyde Park is Boston's southernmost neighborhood, 7.9 miles south of downtown, incorporated as a town in 1868 from parts of Dorchester, Dedham and Milton and annexed to Boston in 1912.
Roxbury
Roxbury is a Boston neighborhood that the city's planning department describes as the geographic heart of Boston, settled in 1630 and annexed to Boston in 1868.
Mattapan
Mattapan is a neighborhood in southern Boston, part of the town of Dorchester when Boston annexed it in 1870, centered on Mattapan Square, where Blue Hill Avenue, River Street and Cummins Highway meet.
Dorchester
Dorchester is Boston's largest neighborhood, more than 6 square miles between South Boston and the Neponset River, founded as a separate town in 1630 and annexed to Boston in stages that ended in 1870.
South Boston
South Boston is a Boston neighborhood on the former Dorchester Neck, south and east of Fort Point Channel along Dorchester Bay, annexed to Boston in 1804.
Allston
Allston is a Boston neighborhood on the Charles River, the eastern part of the former town of Brighton, named in 1868 when its railroad station and post office took the name of the painter Washington Allston; it became part of Boston with Brighton in 1874.
Brighton
Brighton is a neighborhood in the northwestern corner of Boston, incorporated as its own town in 1807 and annexed to Boston in 1874, with 52,047 residents in 2020 (2020 Census, Boston Planning Department tabulation).
Getting around
Commuting from Boston
Boston is the hub of the MBTA: the Red, Orange, Blue and Green Lines and the Mattapan Line run through the city, and commuter rail ends at South Station or North Station, with Back Bay as a through stop. Amtrak's Acela and Northeast Regional leave from South Station and Back Bay, and the Downeaster from North Station. I-93 and I-90 meet downtown in the tunnels built by the Big Dig, US 1 crosses the Tobin Bridge, and MBTA ferries link the waterfront with Charlestown, Hingham, Hull and other harbor communities.
- South Station (Red Line, Silver Line SL1-SL3; Fairmount, Fall River/New Bedford, Framingham/Worcester, Franklin/Foxboro, Greenbush, Kingston, Needham and Providence/Stoughton Lines): South Station, 700 Atlantic Avenue
- North Station (Orange and Green Lines; Fitchburg, Haverhill, Lowell and Newburyport/Rockport Lines; Amtrak Downeaster): North Station, 135 Causeway Street
- Back Bay (Orange Line, commuter rail and Amtrak): Back Bay
Check current schedules with the MBTA; compare the trip from each address before you buy.
Schools
Public schools
Boston is served by Boston Public Schools. Review the district's profile with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and confirm school assignment for any address with the district.
DESE district profileThings to doBoston
Places to knowin Boston.
Boston Common
Founded in 1634, with ballfields, a tot lot and the Frog Pond, which is open for skating in winter and has a spray area in summer.
Freedom Trail
A 2.5-mile path through downtown and Charlestown linking sites of Boston National Historical Park, including Faneuil Hall and the Old South Meeting House.
Charlestown Navy Yard
One of the country's first naval shipyards, home to USS Constitution and the museum ship USS Cassin Young.
Emerald Necklace
Frederick Law Olmsted's 1,100-acre chain of eight parks over 7 miles, from Charlesgate and the Back Bay Fens to Franklin Park.
Arnold Arboretum
A 281-acre preserve founded in 1872 and part of the Emerald Necklace, free and open every day.
Boston Harbor Islands
A national and state park of 34 islands and peninsulas, with public ferries to Spectacle, Georges and Peddocks Islands among others.
Rose Kennedy Greenway
A 1.5-mile park opened in October 2008 on the land freed when the Big Dig removed the elevated highway, with the Greenway Carousel.
History
1630
Puritan settlers founded Boston on the Shawmut Peninsula, naming the town on September 7, 1630 (Old Style).
1634
Boston Common was set aside, now described as the nation's first public park.
1822
Boston was incorporated as a city on March 19, 1822.
Home prices
The Boston housing market
| Calendar year | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-family median sale price | $3,100,000 | $3,092,500 | -0.2% |
| Single-family sales | 51 | 50 | -2.0% |
| Condominium median sale price | $970,000 | $945,000 | -2.6% |
Source: The Warren Group, MA December 2025 Sales, Prices by Town. Geography: the report's Boston row, which leaves out the neighborhoods it lists separately (Allston, Brighton, Charlestown, Dorchester, East Boston, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Roslindale, Roxbury, South Boston and West Roxbury). Year-to-date figures through December, so calendar years 2024 and 2025. Not live data and not a valuation of any home.
Read it for your own home
A townwide median is a starting point. Your best comparisons are recent closed sales that resemble your home in location, size, condition and style.
Request a market review Compare all townsWhat is the median home price in Boston, MA?
According to The Warren Group's MA December 2025 Sales, Prices by Town table, the median single-family sale price on its Boston row for calendar year 2025 was $3,092,500, across 50 sales. In 2024 it was $3,100,000, across 51 sales. That is not a citywide median, and it is a small and unrepresentative sample: the same row counted 1,611 condo sales in 2025 at a median of $945,000, and neighborhoods such as Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Charlestown and West Roxbury are reported on separate rows.
Why is the single-family median on Boston's Warren Group row so high?
Boston is mostly condominiums, triple-deckers and other multi-unit buildings, so few single-family homes trade on The Warren Group's Boston row: 50 in 2025. A handful of high-priced sales can set the median. Condo sales on the same row numbered 1,611, at a median of $945,000.
Does Boston have commuter rail?
Yes. Every MBTA commuter rail line ends at South Station or North Station, Back Bay is a through stop, and the Fairmount Line has stations in Dorchester. The Red, Orange, Blue and Green Lines also run through the city.
Which school district serves Boston?
Boston Public Schools. Review its profile with DESE.
What is the property tax rate in Boston, MA?
According to the Massachusetts Division of Local Services, Boston's FY2026 residential property tax rate is $12.40 per $1,000 of assessed value, and commercial, industrial and personal property pay $26.96. Boston's residential exemption for owner-occupants is 35% of the average residential assessed value in FY2026, under the City Council's classification order; the Assessing Department confirms the dollar amount.
How is Boston changing its zoning for new housing?
Boston is exempt from the state Zoning Act, including the MBTA Communities law, and sets its own rules. Squares + Streets districts, adopted on April 17, 2024, allow mixed-use and multifamily buildings in neighborhood centers near transit and were mapped first in Mattapan Square and then in Roslindale Square. Since October 2024, projects of seven or more units must make 20 percent of them income-restricted.
Thinking about Boston?
Let's talk aboutyour move.
Buying in Boston, selling here, or comparing it with nearby towns: tell us what you are planning and we will reply by your preferred method.
406-250-7620Sources for this guide
- Town of Boston
- 2020 Census population
- MBTA commuter rail
- Massachusetts DESE district profile
- The Warren Group, 2025 sales by town
- Housing
- Property tax rates, FY2026
- Beacon Hill
- Back Bay
- South End
- Jamaica Plain
- Charlestown
- Dorchester
- Boston Common
- Freedom Trail
- Emerald Necklace
- Arnold Arboretum
- Boston Harbor Islands
- Rose Kennedy Greenway
- History (2007)
Researched by The Oberdorfer Team. Updated . Places and facts can change; check with the source before you rely on them.