why belmont MA is expensive but highly sought after? (Boston: loans, houses)

[Bronxer]

I was considering several houses within my budget in Belmont, MA, however, the houses are only in the market for maybe 1 week or so.


I can see Belmont, MA is very close to Cambridge, and Boston. The school is top notch. However, compared to Lexington, Belmont houses are relatively smaller, and closer to neighbors.


I am curious why Belmont is relatively expensive, but highly sought after. Did I miss anything?


Thank you for any comments.

[timberline742]

Location. Location. Location.


Being in closer to Lexington can save a ton of time, plus, if you're at Harvard or nearby you can just take a bus, or even easily bike or walk down the bike path to Alewife for redline access, or, if going to other places, there are two commuter rail stops.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by Bronxer

I was considering several houses within my budget in Belmont, MA, however, the houses are only in the market for maybe 1 week or so.


I can see Belmont, MA is very close to Cambridge, and Boston. The school is top notch. However, compared to Lexington, Belmont houses are relatively smaller, and closer to neighbors.


I am curious why Belmont is relatively expensive, but highly sought after. Did I miss anything?


Thank you for any comments.

That's how capitalism works. Things that are highly sought after become expensive. As timberline said, Belmont is closer to Boston/Cambridge, so it's price per square foot is going to be higher.

[Basic2020]

Will homes in Belmont go higher in price with years? Is it a good investment? The prices are excruciatingly high!

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by Basic2020

Will homes in Belmont go higher in price with years? Is it a good investment? The prices are excruciatingly high!

Depends on whether banks are willing to continue to give loans out at crazy high DTIs.

[Bronxer]

Thank you for all the comments.


My another observation is although Belmont is closer to Cambridge and Boston, it is far from highway 95 and 93 which makes commuting to jobs in the suburbs longer.


Winchester is close to Boston and 93, which seems the houses at Winchester should be at least comparable to Belmont. The reality is the price per square foot is close to 600, while in Winchester, it is around 400+.


Any other comments is there any historical reason why people like Belmont so much?

[hancox17]

I grew up in Belmont. My father worked in Cambridge so it was perfect for him. It was, don't know if it still is, a great place to raise children. The schools were excellent and the part of town where we lived had access to fields and woods to play in. My parents more than tripled their initial investment when they sold the house and I can only imagine that will continue.

[brightdoglover]

I worked in Belmont most of my working life. Very convenient to Cambridge and with an intellectual vibe, town density but not city. Not suburban closer in to Cambridge. Good public transport. A marvelous town.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by Bronxer

Winchester is close to Boston and 93, which seems the houses at Winchester should be at least comparable to Belmont. The reality is the price per square foot is close to 600, while in Winchester, it is around 400+.

Much harder to get into town on public transit from Winchester.



Not hard to get to route 95 jobs if you're near route 2 in Belmont. My father worked in Bedford when I was young.


Winchester is nice though, but I'd much rather be a teen in Belmont with access to Cambridge and Boston.

[porterhouse]

Originally Posted by Basic2020

Will homes in Belmont go higher in price with years?

Almost certainly. Belmont is a prime, sought after location. Other areas may lose value but gold plated towns like Belmont will not. If anything Belmont is more attractive than ever with the nearly unbearable congestion and traffic that has developed in this region.