The Greater Boston Association of Realtors has released the local market updates for March 2016 and judging from the high number of inventory available in the Newton area, it’s a buyer’s market.

If you are a college student looking for off-campus housing for the coming semester and are planning to live within a 1 mile radius from your school, brace yourself!

RadPad, a startup specializing in apartment searches, compiled a list of?50 universities that have the most expensive off-campus apartments.?Boston area schools took up a full fifth of the chart. The rankings are based on the average rent for a 2 bedroom apartment within 1 mile from the campus.

Historic Newton’s annual House Tour, held this year on May 22 from noon to 5 p.m., offers the public a rare opportunity to look inside a select group of remarkable private residences and non-commercial properties in Newton. 

Condo prices all across Boston are skyrocketing as the spring market kicks off. Urban areas, from upscale to affordable, are leading the charge.

Somerville, Jamaica Plain and increasingly upscale Charlestown saw some of the biggest increases as did Brighton, Medford and West Roxbury.

And it’s not just rent prices that are on the rise. Sales are up by double digits in the same areas as well. The median condo price in Massachusetts went up 10% in March, clocking in at $320,000 which is more than the median price of a single-family home ($315,000).

Good morning and happy Wednesday!

Here’s a summary of recent transactions and personnel news within Greater Boston’s real estate community.

1.    Chevron Partners has acquired the historic Sears Crescent building in Boston’s Government Center neighborhood from Copley Investments for $23.8 million. The 50,300-square-foot brick-and-beam building is fully leased to 14 tenants and is the third acquisition for Chevron Partners in Boston since [...]

From Boston’s Financial District to the suburbs, housing prices in Massachusetts have been rising everywhere. Jamaica Plain was known to be an affordable area but the housing market in the neighborhood has experienced a significant increase in prices over the past few decades.

The stunning properties in Beacon Hill have always been the centre of attraction for the housing the housing market in Boston. Recently, a 136 year old townhouse located at 9 Lime St. in Beacon Hill has become available for sale at an asking price of $5,499,000.

Westbrook Partners has arrangements to construct a 17 story, 250 suite hotel in Chinatown, and will be filing its proposal to the city officials.

The hotel project would be 181 ft. high at 79 Essex St., a 8,095 sq. ft. corner space at the cross-section of Essex and Oxford boulevards that right now is home to a warehouse and office building.

Beacon Hill is a prominent attraction for tourists visiting Boston. The Greek Revival architecture, Cobblestone Streets, Boston Commons and the Public Garden are all located within a walking distance and nobody wants to miss out on these attractions. But a complete tour of the Beacon Hill area could easily take up a whole day.

To avoid that, here’s a guide of all the major destinations you need to see and this is totally doable in two hours.

Suffolk Construction (the biggest general contracting firm in Massachusetts) is preparing for a $22 million expansion of its headquarters in Roxbury to accommodate its projected growth by 10% in headcount.

A 38,000 sq. ft. expansion is proposed at 79 Allerton St, a location adjacent to the companies current headquarters.

Here are some proposals from 6 developers who are competing to redevelop the Winthrop Sq. area(a humungous garage in the Financial District).

Proposal No. 1: Accordia Partners: Proposed a 725-ft, 57-story tower spreading over 768,600 ft. The tower would incorporate 188 apartment units, a hotel with 280 rooms, a black box theatre with 175 seats, an observatory deck on the 56th floor, a restaurant on the 57th floor with stunning views of Boston, 5,300 sq. ft. of street level dining space and 2,638 sq. ft. of retail space with a underground parking structure. The proposed development would include 34,000 sq. ft. of community and civic space.