Overview
Located just a couple blocks south of the Boston Public Garden, Bay Village lies between Back Bay, South End, and the Theatre District. Inside these six square blocks is Boston’s smallest neighborhood officially recognized by the city. Its borders are represented by much busier streets but once you leave Arlington or Charles Street, you enter into a world where the buzz of city fades away. A strategic system of one way streets keeps cut through traffic at a minimum.
With easy access to South End, Back Bay and Midtown alike, many suggest that this location is hard to beat and real estate pricing has historically come at a relative value. For data tracking purposes, we file it within the South End.
$2M+ Luxury Market Data
In 2025, we saw 7 home sales over 2mil totaling $17.53M in Bay Village. Despite its small sample size, the neighborhood showed renewed momentum compared to the prior year, with transaction volume above 2mil rebounding meaningfully from only two sales in 2024. Average pricing landed at $1,084 per square foot, down from 2024’s $1,156 per square foot, suggesting slightly softer pricing even as overall activity increased.
History
This neighborhood is home to several periods of classic Boston architecture that line Bay Village’s narrow, tree-filled streets. Many of the area’s Federal style townhouses imitate larger Beacon Hill mansions since the carpenters and craftsmen who built the grand houses on the hill erected smaller versions for themselves in this nearby neighborhood. While prominent, this is not the only architectural style featured in the neighborhood. Turn the corner on Fayette Street, to find examples of English Neoclassic architecture or head to Melrose Street and find larger Greek Revival townhouses. In 1865, the City of Boston decided to raise the neighborhood by jacking up the streets, houses, and stores 18 feet above sea level. However, the city decided that back yards only needed to come up to 12 feet. As you walk through the quiet streets, you can find these sunken gardens (6’ below street level) throughout Bay Village.
Turnkey Single-Family Homes Leads the Market
At the top of the market, 28 Melrose Street, a fully renovated single family, led the year with a $3.07M sale, followed closely by 28 Fayette Street at $2.73M, reinforcing continued demand for turnkey, single-family-style residences in prime locations. Notably, 25 Piedmont Street, #3 achieved the highest price per square foot in this sub-neighberhood at $1,455.97.
Neighborhood Specialists
We believe when real estate consumers are presented with a complete and robust spread of data, in conjunction with their personal preferences, decisions can be reached with the most confidence.
To learn more about changing market dynamics moving into 2026 check out our Perspective on the Boston Luxury Housing Market>
