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Supply, price reason why young aren't buying
Boston Globe contributor and Harvard economics professor Ed Glaeser recently wrote a compelling opinion piece on the state's dropping rate of homeownership among people ages 25-34. According to the cenus, the homeownership rate for this group has dropped 19 percent since 2005.
Glaeser says the culprit is not the sputtering economy but Massachusetts home prices and the rules that squelch adequate development and limit housing choices, especially for young professionals.
Our high prices ultimately reflect the Draconian limits on Boston-area construction. We don’t lack land, but our rules don’t let us build on that land. An overwhelming number of communities near Boston have enacted fearsome land use controls, including minimum lot sizes that are often over an acre, which make it all but impossible to produce significant numbers of starter homes.