Real Estate Transfer Tax Pitched as Missing Link for Housing
The battle for a local-option real estate transfer tax has risen from the dead, with municipal leaders asking Beacon Hill to help them raise money for affordable housing.
Real Estate Groups, Chambers of Commerce Urge Senate to Skip Transfer Taxes
The top banking and real estate groups in Massachusetts have teamed up with a pair of business groups to plead with state senators to pass on proposed new real estate transfer taxes.
On Wealthy Martha’s Vineyard, Costly Housing Forces Workers Out, Threatens Public Safety
There are plenty of jobs, but restaurants and stores often can’t find enough staff because workers can’t afford to live there. Officials worry public safety is being compromised because they can’t retain or lure correctional officers or 911 dispatchers.
Transfer Taxes Not Ready for Prime Time
The latest proposal to let municipalities establish new, local-option sales taxes on real estate sales continues to be a bad idea. State legislators should strip the measure from Gov. Maura Healey’s housing bill until its problems can be remedied.
Transfer Tax Would Make Small Dent in Housing Needs
A proposed tax on high-value real estate transactions to pay for affordable housing would add an estimated 3,210 affordable homes in Massachusetts over five years, according to the governor’s administration – a drop in the bucket of the state’s 200,000 housing unit shortage.
To Get Transfer Taxes Passed, Try Compromising
It likely feels like “Groundhog Day” for the coalition seeking a transfer tax on higher-end sales after running into a brick wall in the House of Representatives.
Will Transfer Tax Be Healey’s Million-Dollar Whiff?
Million-dollar home sales just aren’t what they used to be in Greater Boston. And that’s a major problem for Gov. Maura Healey as she forges ahead with her proposal for a local-option tax on expensive home sales.
Boston City Councilors Propose Tax on Transactions, Flipping Fee
A 6 percent tax on real estate transactions of $2 million or more would subsidize affordable housing production under a new proposal by two Boston city councilors.
