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Axios
21-07-2025
- Business
- Axios
Greater Boston's median single-family home price hits $1M
Greater Boston's housing market reached new heights last month, with the median price for a single-family home topping $1 million. Why it matters: The higher home prices climb, the less feasible homeownership becomes for Boston-area residents, housing advocates say. That problem is likely to worsen as Massachusetts fails to expand housing production — and with it, affordable housing options — to meet demand. Catch up quick: The Greater Boston Association of Realtors announced last week that the local housing market reached the $1 million milestone in June. "If you needed any more evidence that Greater Boston was one of the most desirable areas of the country to live, you just got it," Mark Triglione, president of the association, said in a news release. The median price for a condo was $725,000 in June, down 3.3% from May and the previous year. Zoom in: Median single-family home prices had been ticking toward seven digits since April, even as more homes stayed on the market longer, per the GBAR. Some homebuyers believed they'd see prices drop as a result, "but the data and buying behavior continues to defy that notion," Triglione said. Reality check: A family would need a down payment of $200,000 to buy a home without paying extra for private mortgage insurance, and that doesn't take into account the extra costs tacked on, including closing costs, HOA fees, utility bills and expenses for repairs. For many Boston-area residents, that price is out of reach. The city's median household income in 2023 was $94,755, per census data. Meanwhile, half of tenants spend more than 30% of their monthly income on rent (one-fourth spend more than half). What they're saying: That $1 million mark suggests that "Boston is no longer for the people we serve," Symone Crawford, executive director of the Massachusetts Affordable Homeownership Alliance, tells Axios. "We're being pushed out." Other housing advocates point to the increase in corporations buying homes and a lack of foreclosure protections and other homeowner and rental protections as factors driving housing costs — in addition to the supply crunch. A 2023 Metropolitan Area Planning Council report shows 21% of residential properties sold between 2004 and 2018 were bought by an investor. Homes for All Massachusetts, City Life/Vida Urbana and other groups are working with community land trusts to buy more homes to make them permanently affordable, says Carolyn Chou, Homes for All Massachusetts' executive director. The other side: Dino Confalone, a real estate agent with Gibson Sotheby's International Realty, says it all comes down to supply.
CBS News
18-07-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Median price for single-family home in Greater Boston surpasses $1M. What's driving the jump?
If you're looking to buy a home in Greater Boston, brace yourself: for the first time ever, the median price of a single-family home has surpassed $1 million, according to new data from the Greater Boston Association of Realtors (GBAR). "It's shocking, but it doesn't surprise me," said Claire Sedgwick, a renter living in Boston's Back Bay. With its rich history, top-notch schools, and beautiful neighborhoods, Boston has long been a sought-after place to live. "It's a beautiful place-there's not one much better in the world," said local resident Tom Quirk. He told WBZ in certain neighborhoods like Back Bay, the high price is fair. "Honestly, if you can find a house for $1 million, you got a bargain." According to GBAR, in June alone, the average sale price for single-family home reached $1,003,250. The cost rose 2.4% from May ($980,000) and 4.5% compared to this time last year ($960,000). So, what's driving the jump? Boston realtor Randall Horn says the price hike is due to too many people competing for too few good homes. "One million dollars, it's not what it used to be," Horn said. "You used to think mansions, but the reality is, with today's prices it's so competitive for what's out there, it's easy for the prices to exceed $1 million." Economists say increasing the supply could bring prices down. That's the goal behind a new Massachusetts law allowing people to build Accessory Dwelling Units on their properties. It's also what's inspired the push to convert empty Boston offices into housing, an effort Mayor Michelle Wu kicked off this week. Without more affordable options, Sedgwick tells WBZ she fears homeownership may not be in her future. "I rent. I don't know anyone my age who does own a house," she said.
Boston Globe
18-07-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
How much does a house near here cost now? One. Million. Dollars.
'I'll say it's a sad thing that it has reached that spot,' said Melvin Viera, Jr., with RE/MAX Real Estate Center and past president of GBAR. 'But it's a good thing that it has reached that spot as well.' Advertisement The number of single-family home sales in June jumped up 19.6 percent from last month, and 5.8 percent year-over-year, with 1,292 sold, according to GBAR's numbers, which cover most of Greater Boston aside from the North and South shores. Condominium sales rose 1.8 percent year over year, with 986 sold in June. The million-dollar figure came as little surprise to Dino Confalone of Gibson Sotheby's International Realty in Cambridge. The local real estate community has been anticipating it for months, he said, with the median single-family home price hovering just below that mark all spring. Advertisement And while unnerving for some, Confalone said, it does reflect well on the area. 'For decades, I've said Boston is undervalued,' Confalone said. 'You have to pay to play to live here... It is a frustrating headline to see for a lot of people, but it's the brutal reality.' Related : Boston University economist Adam Guren said Boston has been facing the same challenges as other coastal superstar cities whose housing stock hasn't kept up with demand, ever since the financial crisis in 2008. The pandemic only drove up prices, he said, then interest rates roughly doubled, and now the cost of construction has soared. Those factors, 'are huge headwinds to building more housing,' he said, 'and of course deporting construction workers doesn't help either.' For affordable housing advocates like Jesse Kanson-Benanav, executive director of Abundant Housing, the million-dollar figure was a milestone, but not one, as he put it, 'that anyone really wants to reach.' Prospective buyers at an open house in Woburn. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff 'It's unfortunate,' he said. 'There's so much more we need to do in Greater Boston and across Massachusetts to make sure that we have a Commonwealth that's affordable and accessible to everyone.' He said statewide measures like the MBTA Communities Act, 'There are so many more policy opportunities for us pending on Beacon Hill,' Kanson-Benanav said. 'Other cities in America' — like Austin or Charlotte — 'invest in expediting permitting and making more varieties of types of homes can be built as-of-right in neighborhoods.' Advertisement Those measures, he said, have led to a sharp increase in supply and stabilization of housing prices. A big, round number like a million dollars is a major signifier, one that will likely become an easy soundbite on Beacon Hill and Related : 'Across income levels, [housing costs are] hurting our businesses, our economy, and our competitiveness, and it tells us we need to take action,' said Rachel Heller, chief executive of Citizens' Housing and Planning Association, a Beacon Hill advocacy group. 'This is a solvable problem, and housing is the best investment that we can be making in our state.' But any new law will take time to result in actual homes that middle-class Massachusetts residents can buy. For people home shopping this summer, the price is steep. But GBAR's data does show one silver lining: The number of new listings on the market is up 8.9 percent compared with the same month last year, while condos were up 19 percent. And typically, home prices here peak for the year in June, when the seasonal housing market is at its busiest. Which means, hopefully for some, they'll mellow a bit and dip back below that million-dollar mark. For a little while, anyway. Janelle Nanos can be reached at
