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Housing: Goals & Measures
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Indicator Measures
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How are we doing?
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6.1.1 Housing costs as a percentage of the cost of living, Boston vs. selected cities
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In 2002, the latest year for which data are available, Boston was the fourth most expensive housing market in the US. Among 15 comparable cities, only Manhattan, San Francisco and Chicago 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 public transit nodes, Boston
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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 or trolley stop. While 76% of Asian and white households were close to rail transit, only 54% of Latino households and 41% of black households were. Almost 98% of Bostonians are within a ten-minute walk of a bus or transit stop. |
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6.2.1 Median home price vs. median household income, Metro region
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Between 1996 and 2003, median housing prices in the Boston region increased by 131%. With the decline in interest rates, the amount of income needed to purchase the median-priced home increased by 87%. However, median income increased by only 52% during this period. The housing affordability gap in Metro Boston increased from $2,000 in 1970 to $84,000 in 2002. Between 2003 and 2004, mortgage rates held steady while prices continued to rise, increasing the affordability gap further. |
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6.2.2 Median home prices by neighborhood, Boston
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In Boston in 2000, 79% of households could not afford the median priced single-family home at $216,000. Since then, prices have risen in all Boston neighborhoods, with the greatest percentage increases occurring in traditionally lower-income neighborhoods. |
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6.2.3 Median advertised two-bedroom rental, Boston
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Citywide, asking rents in 2004 were 60% higher, on average, than in 1995. Rents are stabilizing, yet in 2003, advertised rents in 16 of 20 Boston-area communities exceeded 30% of the median income for the renters in these communities. In Boston, the median income renter had to spend 54% of his or her income to afford the 2003 median rent.
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6.3.1 Growth in population, households, housing units and jobs, Metro Boston
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Between 1990 and 2000 in Metro Boston, the region’s population increased by about 5%, and the number of housing units also increased by about 5%. However, the number of households increased by 7.7%, reflecting 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
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The average vacancy rate for rental units in the Boston region rose to 7% during the downturn of the early 1990s, dropped to a low of 2.7% in 2000, and increased again to 6% in 2004. |
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6.3.3 Municipalities with the fastest and slowest growth in housing supply, Metro Boston
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The City of Boston ranks 30th from the bottom on the list of 101 in the MAPC region in the percentage of new housing produced in the 1990s; however, in absolute numbers, Boston permitted more units than any of the other cities and towns. Boston’s new housing permitted between 2000 and 2003 accounted for 26% of all multi-unit housing in the region and 14% for all housing types. Twenty-two communities, mostly older urban areas, accounted for 60% of all new multifamily housing permits. In contrast, 35 communities permitted no multi-family units. |
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6.4.1 Market rate and subsidized housing production in Metro Boston
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The 2003 Greater Boston Housing Report Card estimates a shortfall of about 44,000 units between 2004 and 2010 in Eastern Massachusetts’ 129 communities (the PMSA). Boston Mayor Menino has pledged to add 10,000 new units and to preserve 3,000 between 2004 and 2008. |
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6.4.2 Dormitory beds to students in Boston
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As of 2004, there were a total of 32,528 dormitory beds in Boston — an increase of 2% over 2002 and 92% over 1992. However, unmet demand is estimated at 4,000 to 17,000 new beds. Every four dormitory beds are estimated to free up one family unit of housing in Boston. |
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6.5.1 Homelessness among men, women and children, Boston
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According to the City of Boston’s annual census, the homeless population is about 6,000, reflecting a decrease of about 7% between 2003 and 2004, yet one-third higher than in 1992. About 20% of the homeless in Boston are children and just under 25% are women, rates that have barely changed since the census began. |
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6.6.1 Metro Boston communities with the highest and lowest percentage of affordable housing
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As of 2004, 39 of the state’s 351 cities and towns met the state’s goal of having 10% affordable housing – up from 27 in 2001. Within the MAPC region of 101 cities and towns in Eastern Massachusetts, 14 communities met the goal in 2004 compared to 9 in 2001.
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6.6.2 Distribution of affordable housing units by Boston neighborhood
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Between 2001 and late 2004, 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 BackBay/Beacon Hill have less than 10%. Overall, about 22% of the housing stock in Boston is subsidized and affordable, twice the rate of even those few municipalities (39 out of 351) that have attained the state’s 10% goal.
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6.7.1 Homeownership and access to mortgages by race
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The mortgage denial rate for blacks and Latinos is considerably higher than that for whites in Boston with comparable incomes. The denial rate for blacks declined from 33% in 1990 to 19% in 2002 before rising to 23% in 2003. Latino rates show the same pattern. Despite the overall decline in denial rates, the gap between white and black/Latino denials has persisted locally, statewide and nationally.
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6.8.1 Mortgage foreclosures by Boston neighborhood
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Mortgage foreclosures represent less than 1% of all residential real estate sales, down from 40% in 1992, following a severe recession and an intense period of real estate speculation in Boston. There were only 23 foreclosures in Boston in 2003 compared to more than 1,000 per year between 1991 and 1994. |
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6.8.2 Abandoned properties by Boston neighborhood
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From 1997 to 2004, there was a 62% decline in total abandoned buildings in Boston – from more than 1,000 to fewer than 400, with a 72% decline in abandoned residential buildings (from 796 in 1997 to 220). Much of the abandoned property has been renovated by local community development corporations working in cooperation with the City of Boston. Roxbury accounts for 40% and Dorchester for 20% of still-abandoned buildings.
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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 3% in 2003, a 93% decline. Boston screened 91% of children aged 9 to 48 months of age and 68% of children 9 to 72 months of age in 2003 – the highest screening rate in Massachusetts. Boston’s low-income neighborhoods continue to have the highest prevalence of elevated lead levels. |
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6.9.1 Trend in public funding for housing, federal and state
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State spending on housing dropped by $42 million (17%) between 2001 and 2002, and another $9 million (5%) in 2003. Total state spending on housing programs, from both operating and capital budgets, amounted to $188 million in 2003, the lowest level since 1995. While federal spending in the Bay State increased from $301 million in 2001 to $383 million in 2003, the bulk of the increase represented funding of existing rental contracts, not funds for new construction. Combined state/federal commitments to housing are down 45% from just two years ago. |
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