2026 Housing Report Card highlights housing market uncertainty as local efforts bump up against economic conditions and federal actions

Special section examines social housing as one possible solution for high renter costs

November 10, 2026

Boston – Efforts to expand housing production through legislation and expanded permitting in Massachusetts have helped slow but not reverse the housing cost and supply trends that have made the state especially challenging for renters and homeowners, according to the 2026 Greater Boston Housing Report Card. The report, which was released today at the Boston Foundation, finds that while price increases have leveled off for both homebuyers and renters, the combination of slowing population growth and a slower-growth economy have kept housing production below the levels needed to meet the region’s housing goals.

“The core metrics in this year’s report illustrate how hard it is to build momentum,” said Luc Schuster, Executive Director of Boston Indicators, the research arm of the Boston Foundation. “The high regional cost of living and federal immigration policies slow population growth, and the regional economy has lost steam. Meanwhile, the slowdown in housing construction has left us short of needed progress on the region’s housing gap.”

Once again this year, the research team from Boston Indicators wove together data on Greater Boston’s demographics, housing prices, affordability, and housing instability in the Core Metrics section of the report. This year’s Special Topic section, produced by researchers from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, explored one possible path toward rental affordability, the development of social housing projects that leverage public or nonprofit investments to create housing that can be offered at below-market rate rents.

Learn more and download the report

“Social housing offers a path to affordable housing that stays affordable permanently, serves a mix of incomes, gives tenants a real measure of control, and adapts to local needs and constraints,” said Chris Herbert, Managing Director of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. “These projects show both the diversity and the promise of social housing, and how it could fill a critical gap in Greater Boston’s housing portfolio.”

Slower growth, lower supply in Greater Boston housing market

The new report card finds economic and federal policy factors are placing a significant drag on Greater Boston’s growth – the region grew by just an estimated 9,000 people in 2025, the slowest year-over-year growth since at least 2011 (outside of the COVID-19 pandemic). Much of that slowdown can be attributed to policies that cut the region’s international net in-migration by half, to just over 30,000 people. That smaller influx was more than offset by an estimate of nearly 32,000 people leaving the region for other U.S. destinations.

While in theory that population slowdown could provide an opportunity for Greater Boston’s housing stock to “catch up,” the data suggest an anticipated slowdown in housing construction cited in the 2025 Housing Report Card is also coming into reality.

These housing supply challenges are captured in a pair of data points: the U.S. Census Address Count showed the number of new housing units coming online fell by more than half in Greater Boston and statewide between a spike in July 2025 and July 2026. Additionally, the annual number of permits issued in Greater Boston has continued to lag since a post-pandemic uptick in 2021-2022, with the number of permits issued in Greater Boston falling to its lowest level in over a decade in 2025. Despite the demonstrated need for new units, Greater Boston ranks 9th of 11 large metro areas in permits issued per 1,000 residents.

“The data show that at least some of the warning signs for the housing market in last year’s report card played out this year,” said Keith Mahoney, Vice President of Public Affairs at the Boston Foundation. “But there are hopeful signs, too. While current supply has slowed, prices and cost burdens remain high, the impact of new policies addressing zoning, accessory dwelling units and more can help clear a path for new housing that can move the needle in the longer-term on housing.”

Costs continue to shut renters and potential homeowners out of the market

The lack of housing inventory continues to provide upward pressure on prices, with many lower-cost communities seeing the largest price increases. Just six Greater Boston communities had median home prices under $500,000 in 2026 – down from 42 a decade earlier, even adjusting for inflation.

The report looked again this year at the issue of entry-level home affordability for renters and found little change over the past year. Using a simulation that follows a model used by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, estimating total carrying costs (mortgage principal and interest, taxes, insurance) under typical underwriting standards, and adding realistic assumptions about down payments and closing costs, the researchers found that even in a “low-priced” community, a household would need an annual income of $181,000 per year to afford an entry-level home while spending 30 percent of their income on housing. Just one in six renters in these communities has that income.

The report does note that those with the ability to make larger down payment can reduce their monthly costs sharply. Making a 20 percent down payment on a $600,000 home reduces monthly costs by nearly $1,000 per month.

Meanwhile for those locked into renting, cost burdens remain high – data show over 48 percent of renters in Greater Boston in 2024 were “housing cost burdened,” meaning they paid over 30 percent of their monthly income on housing. Nearly half of those were “severely cost burdened,” with housing costs taking over half their income.

Exploring the long-term effect of “social housing” on affordability.

The persistence of high cost burdens for Greater Boston renters is leading to the exploration of several ideas for improving affordability. This year’s report Special Topic digs into the potential of social housing, housing that uses public and/or nonprofit funds to help create permanently affordable housing options for a mix of incomes and family sizes.

Building off a track record of success in many parts of Europe, social housing initiatives are seeing an uptick in development across the U.S. The Center’s researchers highlight both the European inspirations for American social housing efforts and feature several developments across American cities, as well as two in Boston – the Boston Housing Authority’s Building F at Bunker Hill and the East Boston Neighborhood Trust housing portfolio, while exploring several initiatives under consideration to fund social housing more broadly in Greater Boston, including bond considerations, zoning changes, and other incentives and supports.

The 2026 Greater Boston Housing Report Card, along with several data interactives, is available now from the Boston Foundation at https://www.tbf.org/gbhrc2026.