Housing Headlines

BROCKTON --- MassHousing has provided $12.9 million in financing for Bixby Brockton Apartments, a 106-unit affordable seniors housing complex. Affordable Housing & Services Collaborative Inc., will use the proceeds to fund capital improvements and extend the property’s affordability status.

STATE --- When it comes to increasing housing stock, Massachusetts lags behind 40 other states. Construction Coverage, a website that provides research and reviews related to the construction and real estate industries, ranked all 50 states and more than 300 metro areas based on the number of new housing units authorized per 1,000 existing homes in 2022. Among large metro areas, the Greater Boston region built the 13th fewest homes relative to the number of existing homes in 2022, the report said. But the capital region’s authorization rate of 7.1 new units per 1,000 existing units outpaced the statewide rate last year.

BROOKLINE --- The town select board has signed off on a two-part proposal which would rezone Harvard Street and the town’s existing multi-family districts. The plan is meant to comply with the state’s MBTA Communities Act. Town planners say it would lead to the construction of around 800 new housing units, 120 of which would be affordable. It now heads to a pre-Town Meeting review process before a likely final vote by Town Meeting in November or December.

BOSTON --- Last year, the East Boston Community Development Corp. bought 36 triple-deckers with 114 units of housing in East Boston, a $47 million transaction that illustrates how a partnership between the public sector, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector can secure housing. Housing advocates state that this kind of partnership can be replicated throughout the state.

REGION --- A Metropolitan Area Planning Council study states that there are more than 3,000 strip malls — roughly 14 square miles of them — across Greater Boston and many are “underutilized, underperforming or obsolete and they’d be ideal for helping solve the region’s housing crisis. The council estimates Eastern Massachusetts will need roughly 140,000 new multifamily housing units by 2030. If only 10% of those old malls were rebuilt to add housing, 125,000 units could be created.

STATE --- Massachusetts home prices hit a new record for the month of July, clearing $600,000 for the median single-family home, according to data released by the Warren Group and Massachusetts Association of Realtors. Monthly closed sales dipped in July for the first time in four months, reversing a slightly positive trend at the start of the summer. High interest rates continue to be a large factor in the subdued market, said MAR Treasurer Jim Major.