Municipalities Will Not Lead on Housing
As passions around the MBTA Communities law rise, it’s time to take a fact-based look at the law, put it in context with what other states are doing and plan accordingly.
Communities Already Own a Key Tool to Help Alleviate Housing Crisis: Municipal Property
Municipalities throughout New England have long struggled to create opportunities to help alleviate the region’s severe housing crisis, without realizing potential solutions may already be within their control.
More Homes Needed for Affordability Impact
In the Cape Cod market, and across Massachusetts, inventory and interest rates are likely to continue to be the biggest challenges encountered by both buyers and sellers.
Augustus, Driscoll Tapped to Chart More Housing Reforms
Gov. Maura Healey is still waiting for the legislature to act on her big housing bill, but she paused Monday to swear in two panels of developers, municipal leaders and advocates Monday, charged with charting more housing production reforms.
Prison Closures Offer Great Opportunities for More Housing
Gov. Maura Healey has promised to “go big” on housing as he pushes a multibillion-dollar spending plan. But three big pieces of disused or soon-to-be-disused state property show she’s got more work to do in that regard.
Gateway Cities Win with Governor’s Housing Strategy
With an assist from the Healey-Driscoll administration, Gateway Cities can pave the way for a new future – one where housing helps drive economic success.
Legislature Has Hands Full with Housing Bill
Gov. Maura Healey’s signature piece of housing legislation got its first hearing on Beacon Hill last week, a marathon affair that suggested that many of the main battle lines are being drawn over policy, not the bill’s fiscal impacts.
Trust Gap Muddies Mayor’s Message
Wu is essentially asking developers to trust her over the next year as she tries to achieve things previously considered pie-in-the-sky dreams. But it’s hard for some parts of the real estate community to do that.
Is a Boston Housing Tax Break Really Just a ‘Work in Progress’?
Wu’s decision not to move forward at this time disappointed housing developers with projects stalled on the drawing boards, but industry circles aren’t losing hope just yet.
The Year Massachusetts Got Serious About Housing Production
2023 ushered in new policy initiatives to tackle the housing crisis. Is 2024 the year we get production back on track, as all levels of government signal they are prioritizing big solutions?
Rampant Insurance Increases Are Stifling Housing Production
There’s a new threat to affordability that is jolting the rental apartment real estate industry, especially those in market-rate and affordable multifamily housing: insurance premiums.
Boston Looks to NYC to Get Construction Moving
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.
Greater Boston Far Short of Home Construction Goals, Report Finds
Towns and cities around the Boston metro area have only given developers the green light to build half as many homes as local officials say they need by 2030
Transit Zoning Won’t Be Enough to Kick Off Housing Boom, Report Argues
A new report from a leading housing advocacy group is urging Massachusetts’ leaders not to rest on their laurels and assume a recent big change in state zoning law will fix the state’s housing problems on its own.
Report: Mass. Near Bottom of Pack for Housing Production
Massachusetts lags behind 40 other states when it comes to increasing its housing stock, a new report said this week, and the pace of new construction last year was just barely ahead of where it was in the depths of the pandemic in 2020.
Solving Boston’s Apartment Supply Problem Requires Different Incentives
A major shortage of available rental units has pushed apartment prices to all-time highs in the Greater Boston area. The data suggests this is fundamentally rooted in a supply delivery conundrum.
Where’s the Plan, Governor?
“From dire to downright catastrophic” just about sums up the steady progression of the housing crisis in Massachusetts over the past year, with new construction falling off a cliff as rents and home prices keep setting records.
New Secretary Mum on Housing Production Plans
Massachusetts has a new housing boss, and in a crisis of unaffordability leading to housing insecurity for many and hurting the state’s competitiveness, his mantra is “more, faster.” But details are still thin.
Newton Zoning Plan Could Create 10,000 Housing Units
Adoption of new zoning to comply with the MBTA Communities housing production law would generate a potential 10,000 multifamily units in Newton, most of which would be clustered around transit stops.
Healey Has No Time to Waste on Housing Secretary
Unless you think the law of supply and demand doesn’t have any bearing on the housing market, you know the sudden halt in new construction will make our shortage of homes even worse, driving prices even higher.
