Housing permits dip while prices remain high, report says
Let’s start with the good news: Massachusetts has added nearly 98,000 new housing units in the past five years, including 71,000 in Greater Boston.
Report card: Boston’s housing need increases, cost of rent still high
Housing costs are rising faster than incomes in Boston, according to the Boston Foundation’s annual Greater Boston Housing Report Card.
Only 1 in 7 Greater Boston renters can afford a starter home, new report finds
For more and more families in Greater Boston, buying a home has quickly become out of reach. A new analysis from the Boston Foundation released Wednesday found that just one in seven renter households can afford a starter home in Greater Boston. With much higher housing prices and mortgage rates, it’s a dramatic change from just four years ago, when nearly a third could afford a starter home.
Only 1 in 7 renter households in Boston-area can afford ‘starter home,’ report finds
Only one in seven renter households in the Greater Boston area can afford an “entry level” home, as affordability issues continue even while construction increases, according to the 2025 Greater Boston Housing Report Card released Wednesday. “This year’s report data highlights some significant differences among housing construction, permits, and prices,” said Luc Schuster, executive director of the research arm of the Boston Foundation.
Report finds loopholes, permitting slowdown are worsening Greater Boston housing crisis
Greater Boston may be building more homes, but that hasn’t made it any easier to find an affordable place to live. A new Boston Foundation report released Wednesday finds that while housing construction is up, new building permits are slowing — and affordability continues to slip further out of reach.
Soaring costs, a tightening rental market, and a construction cliff: Greater Boston’s housing market is tougher than ever
Greater Boston has long been one of the most expensive places in the country to live. Rents are among the highest in the United States, keeping pace with other ultra-expensive regions like New York and Los Angeles. And home prices in many places regularly eclipse $1 million, pricing most middle-class residents out of homeownership.
Civic parley examines mounting mental health challenges
Members in a day-long summit at Northeastern University (NU) last week took a deep dive into the challenges facing Bostonians confronting mental health issues while also juggling the many stressors of city life. The event, convened by the Boston Public Health Commission and NU’s Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research, included candid discussions about the connections between “social determinants” like poverty, housing stress, and systemic racism.
After Tuesday, St Paul will shift its city elections to even years. Turnout isn’t the only reason why.
A 2024 ballot question approved by St. Paul voters will shift future municipal elections from odd years to even years, in order to match the cycle of federal elections. That means the next mayor will serve a three-year term and that future mayoral elections will coincide with presidential elections, which tend to garner to to three times the turnout as recent St. Paul city elections.
Many Questions Remain After Judges Order USDA to Fund SNAP During Shutdown
At the eleventh hour on Friday, October 31, two New England federal judges ruled that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) must use billions of dollars in emergency funds to partially cover Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for 42 million Americans living in every county in the nation.
At Health Commission summit, housing, economic stability are key to addressing mental health
When the Boston Public Health Commission hosted its mental health summit at Northeastern University on Oct. 21, the event drew mental health researchers and clinicians. It also brought together housing officials, economic development advocates and community members focused on decreasing inequity across the board.