The monthly costs—mortgage payments, property taxes, and insurance—of a typical low-end home in the Boston region has reached $3,600 a month. A typical home costs $5,000 a month.
A recent study of the Greater Boston housing market data from the past year reveals the consequences of rising housing costs in the region, namely stress for renters and fewer potential homebuyers able to cover the cost of mortgage payments.
The “combination of record-high house prices and sharp increases in mortgage interest rates has greatly reduced the number of renter households that can afford the typical home in the region―or even the typical low-end home,” writes Daniel McCue to summarize the findings of the “Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2022,” published by the Boston Foundation.
The findings also note the rising cost of homes in the region is of particular significance in Black and Hispanic households, “which threatens to extend significant existing racial and ethnic inequities in the region’s housing market.”
According to the study, asking rent increased by 11 percent in the region over the past 12 months. Things aren’t much better on the homeowner market: “At last measure in September 2022, the value of a typical home in the Boston metro area had risen to $652,000, which is $57,000 higher than a year ago,” writes McCue. The rising mortgage interest rates is making it tougher to cover the cost of mortgage payments, even for people who could afford to buy a home. “Between September of 2021 and September of 2022, interest rates on a 30-year mortgage more than doubled, rising from 2.9 percent to 6.11 percent. This, in combination with the rise in home prices, lifted monthly mortgage payments on the typical home up $1,400 per month over the past year to $3,800 by September 2022,” according to the article.
Land Costs and Housing Costs
One common argument against upzoning is that it increases land costs—but land costs rose in the most restrictive markets as well as the least restrictive ones.
The Consequences of 'Runaway' Housing Prices
There's been no shortage of discussion and debate about what's causing the price of homes in the United States to skyrocket at record rates, but less discussion of the consequences for housing market trends on the broader economy.
Tight For-Sale Market Leads to Record Price Spikes in the Rental Market
A supply-demand imbalance in the for-sale housing market will eventually spill into the rental market.
The Shifting Boomer Bulge: More Bad News for America’s Housing Crisis?
In the first of a two-part series, PlaceMakers’ Ben Brown interviews housing guru Arthur C. Nelson on the sweeping demographic changes complicating the housing market.
New York Governor Advances Housing Plan Amid Stiff Suburban Opposition
Governor Kathy Hochul’s ambitious proposal to create more housing has once again run into a brick wall of opposition in New York’s enormous suburbs, especially on Long Island. This year, however, the wall may have some cracks.
A Serious Critique of Congestion Costs and Induced Vehicle Travel Impacts
Some highway advocates continue to claim that roadway expansions are justified to reduce traffic congestion. That's not what the research shows. It's time to stop obsessing over congestion and instead strive for efficient accessibility.
Historically Redlined Neighborhoods Have Higher Rates of Pedestrian Deaths, Study Says
The consequences of historic redlining continue to have consequences in the present day United States. Add another example to the list.
Tolling All Lanes
Bay Area transportation planners are studying a radical idea to reduce traffic congestion and fund driving alternatives: tolling all lanes on a freeway. Even more radical, the plan considers tolling parallel roads.
Federal SMART Grants Awarded for Transportation Safety, Equity Projects
The grant program focuses on the use of technology to improve safety, accessibility, and efficiency in transportation.
City of Greenville
City of Greenville
Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) AmeriCorps Program
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact: Mobility, Community, Possibility
City of Spearfish
City of Lomita
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
