Housing in Chestnut Hill, MA 02467

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Chestnut Hill is regarded as a wealthy village, a patrician borough of stately homes and home to Boston College. It is located just six miles west of downtown Boston; but, unlike most villages, Chestnut Hill encompasses parts of three separate municipalities, each of which is in a different county:

• the town of Brookline in Norfolk County;
• the city of Boston (parts of its neighborhoods of Brighton and West Roxbury) in Suffolk County;
• the city of Newton (all of its village of Chestnut Hill) in Middlesex County.

Chestnut Hill is roughly defined by the 02467 zip code. Since homes located in these three areas all share the same zip code, new transplants or renters can be easily confused about which town or county they live in. Why? because Chestnut Hill itself is not a legal entity. It has no government body nor school district of its own. Due to the significance of its landscape and architecture, parts of Chestnut Hill are designated as historic districts.

You might enjoy fishing or hiking in its Hammond Pond Reservation, a protected woodland park. Myself, my dogs and I enjoy walking/exploring its various trails.

There are a couple of easy-to-walk trails through the area and several off-shoots here and there. We climbed up the hill the other day and took this photo looking down over the pond.

Its major retail centers – The Shops at Chestnut Hill, Chestnut Hill Square and the Chestnut Hill Shopping Center – are located along SR-9 between Hammond St and Langley Rd, in Newton. Jim’s favorite restaurants in Chestnut Hill are not surprisingly mainly located in the malls: Legal Seafood, Cheesecake Factory, The Capital Grille, Shake Shack, Davios, etc.

If you are a commuter, Chestnut Hill is served well by public transit – by three branches of the Green Line as well as several bus lines. This is especially necessary within the boundaries of Brookline because that town has strict parking regulations. It even has an overnight on-street parking ban which is unusual for such a dense area. Please inform yourself of its parking restrictions. This said, Newton, too, has an overnight parking ban in the winter. Narrow streets, parked cars, and snow make it difficult for emergency vehicles to get where they might need to go.

Chestnut Hill is also known for its excellent Brookline and Newton schools which are supported in large part by high property taxes. Fortunately, Brookline offers a bit of a tax break for owner occupants who apply for the residential exemption. Newton has no such exemption. Boston does offer a similar property tax break, but its schools are not well regarded. Taxes aside, if you have school age children, you will want to read what options are available to transport them to and from school; but first, you must know which school district your property is in! If you know which city or county your prospective home is in, that there will tell you which school district. If you do not know which city or county, you can contact Jim and he will let you know which one based upon the property address you provide. Alternatively, you can search each of the city’s databases by address and see which holds the winning address! Here are Brookline‘s, Boston‘s, and Newton’s‘s databases. Several private primary and secondary schools, including the Beaver Country Day School, Brimmer School, The Chestnut Hill School, and Lynch School – The Boston College Campus School (for special needs) are located in the village.

Single family homes in Chestnut Hill have been running from $700,000 to $10,900,000 while condominiums have been running from $210,000 to $2,700,000. Multi-family homes have been offered from $995,000 to $2,100,000. Pricing varies depending upon size, location, and amenities. Real estate markets are very fluid and can fluctuate in a matter of hours because homes can come on and off the market daily… even hourly. What is currently offered for sale is listed below.

The following chart is a visual representation of the cyclical nature of real estate and compares the ups and downs of Chestnut Hill to the ups and downs of Boston proper. 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 Chestnut Hill, while 2014 was the best year for sellers. The graphic below indicates an approaching buyer’s market.

Remember, you are governed by the laws promulgated by and pay taxes to the town in which you reside. So, determine first, in which town you wish to reside and then begin your search from that standpoint.

One such customized search might be for The Towers of Chestnut Hill.

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.

This next chart shows the number of sales occurring in Chestnut 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.