WBUR Report - Housing in Boston Less Affordable Than Ever - October 26, 2009

WBUR

“Report: Housing In Boston Less Affordable Than Ever”

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Barry Bluestone, dean of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University and co-author of the Boston Foundation’s 2009 housing report card which was released Monday, reveals that a spike in foreclosures has driven up demand for rental housing and pushed up prices. Rents were up 11 percent this spring compared to the second quarter of 2005.

Here are some other facts from the report:

• Boston rents are now the second highest in the country, after San Francisco.
• Bluestone predicts it will be another four to five years until prices return to those of 2005.
• “The Third Civil War’s going to be what regions of the country, what metro areas, what states can retain and attract young people,” Bluestone said. “Housing costs (and) rents are going to be a critical decision in where people decide to move, where people decide to remain. If we can’t solve our housing price and rent problems in the future, we’re going to lose that civil war.”

Bluestone recommends expanding voucher programs to help people pay the rent and advocates federal legislation that would allow new homebuyers to purchase home insurance from the federal government.