Goals
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Indicator Measures
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How are we doing?
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| 6.1 Retaining Boston’s Competitive Advantage in Housing |
6.1.1 Housing costs as a percentage of the cost of living, Boston vs. selected cities |
In 2004/2005, Boston was the sixth most expensive housing market in the US (down from 4th in 2002). Among 15 comparable cities, only New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Washington, DC had higher housing costs. Boston’s housing costs were 81% higher than the US average.
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6.1.2 Housing units within a 10-minute walk of rail transit, Boston |
In Boston, almost 80% of jobs, 51% of public schools, and 56% of residences are located within a one-quarter mile (or ten-minute walk) of a public transit stop. While 76% of Asian and white households were close to rail transit, only 54% of Latino households and 41% of black households were.
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| 6.2 Housing Affordable to All Residents |
6.2.1 Median home price vs. median household income, Metro region |
In 2006, a median-income household could afford a median-priced single family home in 27 of 148 Metro Boston municipalities. The median price for single family homes in Greater Boston reached a peak of $492,000 in 2005, but fell 2.4% to $480,000 in 2006. Even with this small decline, higher interest rates continue to erode affordability.
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6.2.2 Median home price, Boston neighborhood |
In 2000, 79% of Boston households could not afford the median priced single-family home of $216,000. Prices rose 45% between 2000 and 2006, increasing the gap between affordability and prices 101%. The Boston median home sales price fell 2.1% from 2005 to 2006, but most families will remain outside the homeownership market, with prices 169% higher than in 1997.
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6.2.3 Median advertised two-bedroom rental, Boston
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Boston median asking rents in 2006 were 82% higher than 1995. Rents fell in 2001-2003, before rebounding in 2004/2005 and stabilizing in 2006. In 2005, 47% of Metro Boston renters and 51% of Boston renters paid more than 30% of income to rent. The median income renter in Boston would have to spend 45% of income to pay the 2005 median rent.
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| 6.3 An Adequate Housing Supply |
6.3.1 Growth in population, households, housing units and jobs, Metro Boston |
In Metro Boston, the number of households continued to increase faster than population, increasing by 7.7% Between 1990 and 2000, and by another 3% from 2000 to 2005, This reflects a trend toward one- and two-person households, leading to a housing shortage and pushing up prices.
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6.3.2 Vacancy rates in Metro Boston, Inner Core Communities, and Boston |
The vacancy rate for rental units in metro Boston has ranged from 7% during the early 1990s to a low of 2.7% in 2000. It increased to 6% in 2004, but fell to 5.3% in 2006. Homeowner vacancy rates were close to 0.5% from 2002 to 2004, but with a slowing real estate market, the rate increased to 2% in 2006.
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6.3.3 Municipalities with the fastest and slowest growth in housing supply, Metro Boston |
Of the 101 municipalities in the MAPC region, on a percentage basis, Chelsea, Medford and Winthrop produced the fewest number of housing units between 2000 and 2005; Middleton created the most. In absolute numbers, Boston permitted more units than any other city or town. With Mayor Menino’s Leading the Way I and II programs, Boston created 18,000 units of housing in from 2000 to 2006
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| 6.4 Adequate Housing Production |
6.4.1 Market rate and subsidized housing production, Metro Boston |
The Greater Boston Housing Report Card estimates that 18,000 new units are needed each year to avoid a housing shortage. After only averaging 10,500 units a year from 1999 to 2003, the number has increased, to 16,468 units in 2005. The City of Boston’s efforts were important here, and new mechanisms such as 40R zoning districts hold great promise for region-wide housing production increases.
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6.4.2 Dormitory beds to students, Boston |
As of 2004, there were 32,528 dormitory beds in Boston — an increase of 2% over 2002 and 92% over 1992. From 2004 to 2006, an additional 750 students were housed on Boston campuses, leaving unmet demand at 3,250 to 16,250 new beds.
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| 6.5 Homelessness Prevention |
6.5.1 Homelessness among men, women and children, Boston |
According to the City of Boston’s annual census, the 2006 homeless population is about 6,400, reflecting a 45% increase over the first census in 1992, and a 10% increase over 2004. About 24% of the homeless in Boston are children, an increase from 20% in 2004, and just fewer than 25% are women.
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| 6.6 Equitable Distribution of Affordable Housing |
6.6.1 Communities with the highest and lowest percentage of affordable housing, Metro Boston |
As of early 2007, 48 of the state’s 351 cities and towns met the 10% goal, up from 39 in 2005 and 27 in 2001. Today, 22 communities in the MAPC region meet the goal of 10% or more affordable housing units—compared to 9 communities in 2001 and 14 in 2005.
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6.6.2 Distribution of affordable housing units, Boston neighborhood |
Between 2001 and late 2005, the number of affordable subsidized units in Boston increased by 13%. Affordable housing stock grew fastest in Mattapan, Roxbury, Dorchester, Roslindale, and the Fenway. Roxbury, at 50%, has the highest percentage of affordable housing, and the South End is second, at 44%, with most neighborhoods at around 20 – 30%. Hyde Park and Back Bay/Beacon Hill have less than 10%. Overall, about 19% of the housing stock in Boston has affordability restrictions. |
| 6.7 Fair Housing |
6.7.1 Homeownership and access to mortgages by race, Boston |
The denial rate for blacks and Latinos is double than that for whites in Boston, even after factoring in income. The 2005 denial rate for blacks was 24%, up from 19% in 2002, but lower than 33% in 1990. The gap between white and black/Latino denials has persisted locally, statewide and nationally. |
| 6.8 Healthy Homes and Neighborhoods |
6.8.1 Mortgage foreclosures, Boston neighborhood |
After hitting a record low of 23 mortgage foreclosures in 2004, a softening real estate market and sub-prime lending led to an increase to 60 foreclosures in 2005 and 260 in 2006. Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, and Hyde Park have been hardest hit by foreclosures, undermining the efforts of people of color in these neighborhoods to build wealth and sustain stable neighborhoods. |
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6.8.2 Abandoned properties, Boston neighborhood |
In 2006, the number of abandoned properties in Boston remained stable at 354. This followed a 66% decline in abandoned buildings between 1997 and 2005. As of 2006, there were 184 abandoned residential buildings—a 77% decrease from 1997, when there were 796. Roxbury accounts for 35% of the abandoned buildings, and Dorchester another 23%. |
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6.8.3 Reported cases of lead poisoning, Boston |
Following more than a decade of collaborative effort, the incidence of elevated lead levels has dropped from 42% of those screened in Boston in 1991 to 2% in 2006, a 95% decline. Boston’s low-income neighborhoods continue to have the highest prevalence of elevated lead levels. |
| 6.9 Public Funding for Housing |
6.9.1 Trend in public funding for housing, federal and state |
Following a $51 million budget cut in FY02, state funding for the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) was restored to $240 million in FY07—its highest level since 1991. However, inflation has eroded the spending power of these funds. Federal funding increased from $301 million in 2001, to $405 million in 2004, before falling back to $390 million in 2005 — the bulk of the increase represents funding of existing rental assistance, not new housing. |
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