As housing prices soar, Mass. lawmakers consider bill for relief

BOSTON — Housing costs are up across the Bay State and they're expected to rise.

According to real estate tracker Zillow, the median price of homes listed is around $420,000 and the average monthly rent is $2,600.

But Mass. lawmakers are expected to endorse a bill aimed at keeping residents from being priced out their neighborhoods.

Home prices have risen steadily in Massachusetts. In fact, to rent in Charlestown, it'll cost you about $2,800 a month, according to Zillow.

A lot of people are being priced out of their family neighborhoods, so the hope is a new bond bill will help preserve communities like Charlestown.

Robert Grady has called Charlestown home for decades.

“I’ve been here since 1980, 37 years,” he said.

And he's seen a lot change in Boston's oldest neighborhood.

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“What you used to have is many vacant lots. There was a big condo development that looked like it had been bombed during World War II,” said Grady.

But one of the biggest changes has been the price of housing.

“If you wanted a nice single family, maybe it would cost you 80, 90 thousand dollars at most,” he said. “Now that same house is going for 12 to 15 times that."

According to real estate tracker Zillow, the median home value in Charlestown now is about $730,000 The entire Boston market is up 11.6 percent over last year. In East Boston, the homes are listed over $500,000 and homes in Dorchester are listed near $480,000.

And it's only on the rise, pricing people out of their neighborhoods.

“Some of the people who have lived here forever are some of the most interesting people I've ever met and we're going to lose that,” said Grady.

“We're experiencing extraordinary increases in the costs of housing, so it's very important that the legislature acts now,” Rep. Kevin Honan said.

Home values in Brighton are around $430,000 and their state representative, Rep. Honan, chairs the legislative housing committee.

They're expected to release a $1.7 billion spending bill that includes low income tax credit extensions and funds for housing for people transitioning out of homelessness.

“You need to also produce housing, but while you're doing that it serves no purpose unless you preserve the existing affordable housing,” said Rep. Honan.

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Cox Media Group