Come Live in Mission Hill

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Welcome to Mission Hill, one of Boston’s smaller neighborhoods. As its name suggests, this neighborhood is located on a hill and so is often referred to simply as “the Hill”. The main areas of the Hill are the Bottom of the Hill, the Back of the Hill, Brigham Circle, Roxbury Crossing, Riverway, and Longwood Medical area. The Hill is basically contained within the hustle and bustle of three major thoroughfares – Huntington Ave, Columbus Ave, and Tremont Street – and subject to the piercing shrill of EMT sirens; but within this same circumscribed area you will also find quiet, tree-lined residential streets of beautiful brownstones and historic homes.

Your new home is just a quick hop to downtown Boston via car, bicycle or MBTA.

Area Schools

Great Schools provides ratings for most schools in the United States. Below, you can see what schools are near the address you are thinking of buying and then compare it to other neighboring schools.

PLEASE NOTE: Other realtors have either ignorantly or intentionally erroneously posted their listings as if they were located in Jamaica Plain or Roxbury vs Mission Hill. This means you are better off searching for a home here using the map search feature. This will encompass all listings in the map area of your choice regardless of how it is being represented by other realtors.

The following chart is a visual representation of the cyclical nature of real estate and compares the ups and downs of Mission Hill to those of the entire city of Boston. The taller the column the better it is for buyers. The shorter the column the better it is for sellers. Hence 2006 was the best time for a buyer to buy in Mission Hill, while 2016 was a great year for sellers. However, buyers will be happy to know that the graphic below indicates a weakening seller’s market for both Mission Hill and the rest of Boston.

The taller the column the better it is for buyers. The shorter the column the better it is for sellers. Hence 2006 was the best time for a buyer to buy in Dorchester, while 2013-2018 were great years for sellers. However, buyers will be happy to know that the above graphic indicates a weakening seller’s market.

If you have a specific property in mind that you are considering buying, The City of Boston maintains a database for the City Assessor which you can access to see what value the City gives the property and what the annual taxes are. Boston also offers a residential tax break for primary residences. Apply if your purchase qualifies.

Since we do not live in a perfect world, we need to be aware of criminal activity that might be around us when contemplating buying in or near a big city. Mission Hill boasts great public transit with street buses and the subway’s Green line. Learn more about Mission Hill’s community services or those of any neighborhood in which you might be interested in living simply by entering your street address here.

To keep up with daily goings on you can check in online with the Mission Hill Gazette, or, of course, the Boston Globe, and the Boston Herald.

If you have a specific property in mind that you think you might like to buy, The City of Boston also maintains a database for the City Assessor which you can access to see what value the City gives the property and what the annual taxes are. Boston does offer a residential tax break for primary residences for which you might need to apply after your purchase.

Mission Hill does not really have detached, single family homes to sell. The preponderance of its homes are condominiums with a sprinkling of multi-family homes. An attached, single-family rowhouse sold for $929,000 in 2022. Condominiums have been selling from $286,000 for a small, attached affordable-housing unit to $1,235,000 for a large unit in a new condo complex. Meanwhile, multi-families have been selling recently from $1.3M to $5.7M.d Rentals in the area run from $1,695 to $6,500. Of course, pricing for sales and rentals varies depending upon size, location, and amenities. Real estate sales and pricing are very fluid and can fluctuate in a matter of hours because homes can come on and off the market daily… even hourly.

This next chart shows the number of sales occurring in Mission Hill month-to-month, year-to-year since 2018 and provides you a historical overview of the best times to sell – months with the greatest number of sales (spring and fall) – and the best times to buy – months with the fewest number of sales (summer and winter). CAVEAT: there are usually more homes to choose from in the first half of the year.