fb-pixelHousing - The Boston Globe Skip to main content

‘The brutal reality’: The typical single-family house in Greater Boston now costs $1 million

The all-time record prices put Greater Boston alongside New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Southern California.

96 percent of Massachusetts is off limits to most apartment buildings. Some hope a new map will change that.
The Massachusetts Zoning Atlas is part of a broader effort to document the zoning of every state in the United States.

In Brookline, a mostly vacant office park could soon become one of the largest developments in town history

Developers are proposing converting an old office park on Route 9 to a 600-unit housing complex. But opposition is stiff.

Investors snap up growing share of US homes as traditional buyers struggle to afford one

Nearly 27 percent of all homes sold in the first three months of the year were bought by investors — the highest share in at least five years, according to a report by real estate data provider BatchData.

Healey says she will sign broker fee ban
With Healey’s signature, a broker’s fee will now be charged to whichever party, between the tenant and landlord, first engages a rental broker, typically the property owner in most cases.

‘An immediate, obvious impact’: Massachusetts moves to end broker fees for renters
The measure lawmakers sent to Governor Maura Healey this week will require the fee to be charged to whichever party, landlord, or tenant, who first works with the broker.

What’s the rent where you live? See the latest rental costs in towns around Mass.
See the latest rent estimates and trends for cities and towns in the Greater Boston area.

From Old Harbor to new housing: Ground breaks on $2b re-do of Southie’s biggest public housing complex
The redevelopment of the Mary Ellen McCormack, which officially began Monday, could last for two decades.

More Housing Headlines

Amid housing crisis, Boston’s building boom has gone cold. How much of that is due to Mayor Wu?

Less new housing began construction in Boston in 2023 and 2024 than in any year since 2011, a testament to the changing economics of homebuilding.

As federal cuts loom, rental housing vouchers across Mass. are being put on hold

Most housing authorities in the state have recently stopped issuing new Section 8 vouchers when tenants give them up, and some are closing waitlists for new applicants.

After multiyear saga, Milton finally approves a state housing plan

Tuesday night’s vote may finally be the end of the long saga over a state housing law that has flamed political tensions in town since 2023.

Greater Boston housing market hits new highs this spring

Data released Tuesday from the Greater Boston Association of Realtors shows record high prices for the month of May, but increased sales and listings were positive signs.

Want to understand why the Massachusetts housing market is broken? Look at this chart.

The typical home in Massachusetts now costs six times more than the average household’s annual income. In Greater Boston, it is more like seven times more.

As housing costs rise in Boston, homelessness soars in the cities that surround it

Boston’s housing crisis is rippling outward, hitting places like Brockton and other Gateway Cities and putting longtime residents there on the streets.

Towns lose their latest challenge to controversial state housing law

Lawsuits — filed by the towns of Duxbury, Hamilton, Hanson, Holden, Marshfield, Middleton, Wenham, Weston, and Wrentham — sought relief from the MBTA Communities Act on the grounds that it constitutes an “unfunded mandate.”

See inside the Seaport condo known as the ‘Grand Penthouse,’ listed at nearly $50 million

The 10,000-square-foot unit features sweeping views of Boston Harbor and the city skyline.