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Wellesley

Wellesley will soon welcome one of the most exciting additions to its real estate market with the creation of a new sports center. To be located at 900 Worcester Street, the Wellesley Sports Center officially broke ground on December 18, 2017. However, it has been a project in the works since 2012.

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The new sports center sits on a 7.85 acre plot that used to be the home of St. James the Greater Catholic Church. After the Archdiocese of Boston closed the church in 2004, the city made inquiries into buying it for a future sports complex.

The archdiocese agreed to sell the property in 2012 to the city for $3.8 million. Immediately after the purchase, Wellesley city leaders and real estate developers began work on plans for how the complex should be designed and built.

Conveniently located along eastbound Route 9, the complex is set to open to the public in 2018. It is expected to be able to seat more than 750 guests and will offers facilities like:

The sports complex will be owned and operated by the city and will feature the latest green technology. It will use LED lighting and have numerous rain gardens located around the property. It will also incorporate other water management resources to save money and conserve water. An adjacent property is being eyed as a potential 350-vehicle parking lot for the sports complex.

Another commercial real estate transaction that recently took place in Wellesley was the sale and acquisition of the warehouses at the Westbelt Center. These buildings, found at 2771-2781 Westbelt Drive and 1615 Georgesville Road, were first built in 1980. Since then, the property has declined in appearance and tenancies.

A real estate development company that specializes in buying and improving distressed properties recently purchased the warehouses and property for a little more than $17 million. The warehouses themselves span more than 600,000 square feet and can house several tenants at one time.

The previous owners attempted to improve the property in 2009 to make it more appealing for potential tenants. However, tenancy rates remained low until the property was sold in late 2017. Now only one vacancy remains in the warehouses.

The company that purchased the property has also acquired other distressed properties in and around Wellesley. These acquisitions and re-purposing of the buildings and acreage are helping to improve the Wellesley commercial real estate market as a whole.

While the commercial real estate market in Wellesley is holding strong, its residential real estate market is showing signs of slowing down. Unlike other parts of Boston, Wellesley has a home sale market that is categorized as Very Cold among national home buying sites.

Still, the market itself grew by percent over the last year and is predicted to grow by another 2.1 percent by late 2018. Despite its Very Cold description, the Wellesley home buying market also receives a score of 8.5 out of 10 on other sites, indicating that it is actually very healthy.

The Very Cold label may come from home prices being higher than normal in this part of Boston. The typical home appraisal value in Wellesley is $1.258 million while the typical home listing price is $1.599 million. The average home sale price for this district is $1.154 million.

Further, studies show that the home foreclosure rate in Wellesley is higher than the national average of 1.6 per 10,000 homes. This number is 7.9 per 10,000 homes that have or are currently being foreclosed on in this district.

Studies also indicate that 3.1 percent of homes in Wellesley have negative equity, which is much lower than the national average of 10.4 percent. A little more than 21 percent of new home listings in the area have prices that have been reduced.

The residential real estate market in Wellesley has affected rental rates significantly. Reflective of the higher than normal home sale prices, rental prices in this area are about twice those found in the Boston Metro region. The average rent per month price in Wellesley is $4952.

Even with the higher than normal home prices found in this district, many people who want to move to Wellesley prefer to buy rather than rent their homes. The typical home listing is designed to entice potential home buyers. The homes for sale here also highlight some of the best qualities that make Wellesley one of the more elite places in Boston to live.

An average single family home can have anywhere from two to four bedrooms. With home prices at their current levels, a home buyer can expect to pay around $8000 per month in mortgage payments.

Even at that price, the homes for sale come with amenities for which most buyers look. It is not uncommon to find a house in Wellesley that has comforts and conveniences like:

Moreover, many residential neighborhoods feature family-friendly amenities like parks and swimming pools. Many are also located close to schools and shopping districts.

Wellesley may not necessarily have the growth potential in its residential real estate market found in other parts of the Boston metro area. However, its commercial real estate market continues to grow with new additions like the sports center complex. Existing properties that show signs of distressed are also being improved upon thanks to the efforts of real estate developers from inside and outside of the area.

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