On paper, the economy couldn’t look finer. But little if any attention is paid to an iceberg looming ahead – the massive and growing real estate slump – the kind of iceberg that typically prefigures a recession.
It’s easy to fear these welcome developments will prove to be too little, too late for rapid, transformational change to our rental and for-sale housing markets. In this context, it’s more vital than ever that state legislators pass Gov. Maura Healey’s housing bond bill quickly.
If you’re like most house hunters these days, you started your search online. And chances are, you overlooked Homes.com entirely. But starting in the new year, the site is planning to give the two heavyweights a run for their money.
Massachusetts faces a huge question mark about how to fund the future of transportation in the commonwealth. Gov. Maura Healey gets first crack at laying out an answer next month.
The federal government just gave MassDOT $372 million to rebuild the Sagamore Bridge. But how’s the money going to get there?
Writing a column about the big stories to watch for the year ahead is typically a fairly tame exercise. Not this time. Here are my bets for the big stories are likely to make 2024 a memorable year.
It’s time to place the for-sale existing house on the endangered species list, right alongside the African forest elephant, the Yangtze finless porpoise and other critically threatened varieties.
The housing crisis has gone national, spreading from Boston and a few other blue cities to states and markets across the country. And along the way, it is helping poison the nation’s political mood by deferring or killing the dreams of a generation.
A couple of years ago, a Florida church celebrated making the final payment on the church’s mortgage by burning the document. But that century-old ritual comes with some huge risks.
Top Federal Reserve officials’ predictions that they would have to cut interest rates three times next year sent a bolt of energy through markets last week. But no one, especially policymakers in town halls or on Beacon Hill, should think we’re about to get some kind of relief from current market conditions.
Gov. Maura Healey’s got her hands on the big valve that controls state grants to local governments as the first big MBTA Communities zoning deadline nears.
Bravo to Mayor Michelle Wu and her team for thinking boldly about ways the city can get housing development unstuck. But her preferred solution – significant tax breaks – raises questions about the viability of high affordable housing mandates.
With housing construction stalled across Boston, the Wu administration is thinking big when it comes to ways to get apartment and condominium projects moving again.
Florida recently enacted a bill that limits some foreigners from owning property in the state – a move that shocked some. It’s one of six states that passed laws this year barring foreigners from buying homes.
Jingle bells, jingle bells, please no catastrophes. Oh what fun it’d be to find enough funding for the T!
MAPC’s latest research has uncovered astounding statistics about the role investors are playing in pushing Boston home prices up. But it falls wide of the mark in recommending rent control as a solution to the problem.
The Biden administration is taking steps to help create more affordable houses and apartments, which could help fill the inventory gap that plagues the housing sector.
The existing home market has been stymied – by mortgage rates in the 8 percent range and ultra-low inventory – and it’s created an opening for builders to take credit for double their normal share of sales.
The coming year is shaping up to be one of big bills to pay in our commonwealth, and there are worrying signs not everyone is prepared.
