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3h ago

New Report Finds Boston-Area Affordability Sliding as Permits Fall, Leaving Starter Homes Out of Reach

Declining permits plus uneven results from MBTA Communities zoning threaten progress toward the state's 2035 housing target.

Houses line the street in Milton, MA.
Ranch houses in Randolph. New Housing along the south shore. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald) .
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Overview

  • The Boston Foundation’s 2025 report says only one in seven renter households in Greater Boston can afford an entry-level home, down from about one in three in 2021.
  • Required income for a starter-home mortgage rose from roughly $98,000 in 2021 to more than $162,000 in 2025 as typical monthly payments climbed from about $2,520 to over $4,200.
  • Permitting, a key signal of future supply, is down 44% versus the same period in 2021 as of July 2025, after statewide permits slipped from nearly 20,000 in 2021 to just over 14,000 in 2024.
  • Since 2020, Massachusetts added about 97,656 homes, including more than 71,000 in Greater Boston, yet rents remain elevated, vacancy hovered near 3% in 2024, and over half of renters are cost-burdened.
  • MBTA Communities compliance created 362 districts with capacity for up to about 487,000 multifamily units, but production varies widely, with places like Lexington adding homes and towns such as Wellesley and Needham seeing little new construction.