Opinion
Homebuying Report Raises Troubling Questions, but Offers Bad Remedies
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.
White House Acts to Boost Housing
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.
Transfer Taxes Won’t Increase Competitiveness in the Commonwealth
Instead of focusing on reforms that will boost our economy, the Healey-Driscoll administration is pursuing a policy that will further damage the state’s competitiveness: a new tax on home and building sales.
Bankers’ Help Will Be Key to Downtown’s Next Chapter
Retail vacancies are dropping and the number of restaurants and new, diverse businesses are rising, but downtown property owners need lenders’ help to confront broader headwinds.
Banker & Tradesman’s Editorial Cartoon: I Will Try Harder
A certain speaker of the house is in the doghouse for letting the formal legislative session end without passing a big budget bill to pay state workers’ salaries and fund extra homeless shelters.
The Transit Zoning Rules that Matter
What rules to municipalities have to follow in complying with the MBTA Communities transit-oriented zoning law? What deadlines matter? Who decides if a town is doing the right thing?
Homebuilders Ride a Bifurcated Housing Market
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.
State Faces Trust Test
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.
Office Construction Slows, But It’s Still a Tenant’s Market
For the foreseeable future, occupiers will have the advantage. Companies considering relocation or lease renewal can leverage the highest amount of vacant office space ever recorded to their benefit in negotiations.
Life Science Market Fundamentals Show Advantage Lies with Users
Dour-sounding statistics about the state of Massachusetts’ life science real estate market should be put into context. Yes, the market has short-term challenges, but it will normalize over the coming years.
To Combat Holiday Scams, Banks Must Give the Gift of Education
Online scams are especially prevalent this time of year. Trying to head them off by educating customers can help a bank’s balance sheet as well as earn it goodwill in the community.
Return-to-Office Plans Confront a Paradigm Shift
Corporate managers who make real estate and facility decisions are facing the new reality of altered employee expectations. And there is no “one size fits all” solution to a company’s real estate needs.
Progressives Blinded by Their Own Purity Test on Housing
Yes, we can solve the housing crisis, they say, but only if we stick with the morally pure solution – affordable housing.
Who Loses in Legislators’ Games? Not Them
The Massachusetts legislature failed the most vulnerable members of our society last week when they let the clock run out on the normal legislative session without passing a budget bill that included $250 million needed to keep the state’s homeless shelters open.
The Roast of the Real Estate Turkeys
As the name suggests, this is one award you don’t want to get. A “Turkey” signifies that something has either gone terribly wrong or simply defies common sense.
Be Thankful for Equity Trailblazers
Three trailblazers this year showed what’s possible to increase access to capital for underrepresented consumers and entrepreneurs – not out of some sense of charity, but because it’s good for business and our community.
Study Says Agents Still Steering Buyers
It has long been suspected that some agents engage in “steering” – guiding their buyer-clients away from low-paying listings. And the authors of a new, large-scale study say they’ve unearthed proof.
Banker & Tradesman’s Editorial Cartoon: Higher Commissions
A property in this week’s editorial cartoon has a lot of selling points. But some people care about them more than others.
Other States Offer Lessons in Encouraging ADUs
Other states’ experiences show increasing the production of ADUs requires the passage of statewide legislation, but that policymakers must pick between producing more units and producing less controversy.
Research Finds Apartment Bans’ Racist Roots
A look back at 100 years of land-use history in Greater Boston raises questions about how much progress the state can make if Beacon Hill continues its extreme deference to local control over certain housing issues.
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