Northeastern US area in housing crisis after home prices skyrocket

Officials in Massachusetts have declared a housing crisis in Cape Cod. The peninsula, which is a vacation hotspot, is experiencing skyrocketing home prices, slow construction, and a decreasing workforce. 'This place we call home - the one so many of us were lucky to be born into or found and fell in love with - is slipping through our fingers,' deputy speaker Dan Gessen told a local Assembly meeting on April 16.

Cape Code is located in Barnstable County, where the median listing price of $925,000 is nearly 55 percent higher than it was in 2020. For comparison, the median list price across Massachusetts as a whole was $798,000 in March. This means that families with two employed adults would need to earn $210,000 annually to afford a home in the Cape - which is more than double the average income in the area, Realtor.com reported.

'That's not just unsustainable. That is a crisis,' said Gessen (pictured). Increasing numbers of local residents are being priced out of their properties in the area, which is also home to many rental homes and sprawling compounds owned by wealthy families such as the Kennedys. A key reason for the crisis is a lack of inventory in the housing market.

Only 800 properties were for sale in Barnstable County last month, significantly lower than the 2,200 homes on the market five years ago. 'Many local residents have been priced out of homeownership,' said Realtor.com senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones. 'A long-term lack of ample, affordable housing options could force some residents to leave the area in search of a better combination of job opportunities and budget-appropriate housing.'

The shortage has also made it difficult for house hunters who are teachers and first responders to find a home in their price range. This has led to some local schools seeing their enrollment numbers plummet in recent years, resulting in closures. 'We spent decades building a fortress that does everything in its power to protect property values,' Gessen told the Assembly's general meeting.

'And in doing so, we've locked out the same people that we sought to create our communities with. The result is a community that is being quietly, but relentlessly, hollowed out.' County administrator Michael Dutton and the Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners have teamed up to create a group of leaders who will come up with an 'actionable recommendation' on how to tackle the crisis.

Co-sponsor Michaela Wyman-Colombo insisted the team would not build their way out of the situation, noting that 86 percent of land has been developed. About 35 percent of the area's properties are also short-term rentals, which are usually occupied during the summer and fall.

Some of the area's potential solutions include building affordable housing on the remaining land and offering low-interest loans to first-time homebuyers. Other options considered in the past include low to no-cost loans for independent dwellings, financial incentives for those changing to year-round housing, changing zones for multi-family housing, and simplifying the license and permit issue process.

'We don't need another study,' delegate Karl Fryzel, who voted in favor of the housing crisis resolution, said in the meeting last week. 'To be successful, this working group is going to need to take some action in the short term.'

Want more stories like this from the Daily Mail? Visit our profile page and hit the follow button above for more of the news you need.