While the reason for high housing costs – a lack of supply – is broadly understood, the scale at which we’ve failed to meet production needs is stunning when compared to the rest of the country.
Proposals for multifamily housing at the Boston Public Library’s West End branch are being sought from developers, as city officials seek to maximize housing production at underutilized municipal real estate parcels.
Gov. Maura Healey has begun looking for a housing secretary to fulfill a long-promised campaign pledge as the state legislature gears up to take action on her plan to officially create the role.
Density can be a polarizing term. The word is sometimes even weaponized. But density can be looked at as an important tool for crafting the types of places we enjoy, from affordability to vibrant Main Streets.
Recent studies challenge the notion that new development only increases the stock of luxury housing without helping improve affordability. In fact, less development “filters up” what housing there is into the hands of the wealthy.
Our continued vibrancy and growth are predicated on our ability to make meaningful gains in housing supply and diversity across our region. While this is a daunting challenge, the real estate industry can assist in meaningful ways.
A new report from Apartment List researchers shows the dramatic disparity between housing production in Greater Boston and other parts of the country often touted as the region’s chief competition for residents and talent.
Even if all 168 towns who submitted plans last week to implement the MBTA Communities zoning reform follow through, we still won’t get enough housing to stabilize the market.
Some ideas Mayor Michelle Wu pitched in her State of the City speech could help make up for planned hikes in development fees. But her proposals will take time to implement, something Boston doesn’t have. It’s time the mayor invites industry into the affordability conversation to help find immediate solutions.
Myopically focusing on restrictive suburban zoning distracts from an equally pressing problem – the lack of residential investment in Gateway Cities over the last 10 years thanks to inflexible zoning and uncertainty about availability of state incentives.
Sheila Dillon, Boston’s chief of housing, lays the blame for a downturn in the construction of new units at the feet of larger economic headwinds and high interest rates.
Homebuilders have pumped the brakes on new single-family home construction this year, a trend that’s likely to extend into 2023, according to several forecasts.
Nearly 100 days after its original due date, the House and Senate on Wednesday struck an agreement on a major economic development spending package that could be on Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk by the end of the day Thursday.
Yes, the Massachusetts housing market is a hot mess. But, no joke, California might just have the solution with two key reforms to knock back the abuse of local zoning control.
Booms and busts are a natural part of capitalism, but there’s something rather perverse about this particular bust.
Can a public relations campaign talking up the need for new housing, coupled with some modest incentives, convince NIMBY suburbs to change their ways? Count me as skeptical.
There’s no savior waiting in the wings for Massachusetts’ housing market. Instead, we have to build one ourselves.
Other cities’ experiments with “rent control 2.0” offer clues to how Boston Mayor Michelle Wu may try to fulfil a key campaign promise while keeping developers on-side.
Massachusetts’ four major urban regions east of the Berkshires were short nearly 90,000 homes to meet current residents’ needs right before the pandemic, a new study claims.
The Federal Reserve’s largest interest rate hike in nearly three decades likely will put a kink in Greater Boston’s housing pipeline, increase apartment rents and weed out some development firms.
