“In terms of a moral imperative, it’s despicable to think we can’t do better”

"Nearing 70 years old, Mary McPeak had long had a stable home in Greater Boston. But after a breakup four years ago, she suddenly found herself unmoored, couch-surfing at friends’ homes or renting a room while she faced years-long wait lists for affordable senior housing.

Then a break: McPeak “won the lottery,” figuratively and quite literally, when she was selected in 2020 by lottery for a new senior housing complex, the Brown Family House in Brookline run by 2Life Communities.

“It was sheer, blind, ridiculous luck,” said McPeak, now 73. The retired secretary has lived in her subsidized one-bedroom apartment for nearly three years now. “It was so lucky, it was enough to believe in God.”

Such is the state of affordable housing for seniors in Massachusetts, where it seemingly takes divine intervention to find a home. In an inventory-starved market, the graying population faces some of the steepest hurdles in the country to secure an affordable place. So dire is the situation, some argue, seniors should be prioritized in the state’s response to the wider-ranging housing crisis."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/09/06/metro/massachusetts-needs-more-senior-housing/

“It was sheer, blind, ridiculous luck,” said Mary McPeak, 73, of her subsidized apartment. SUZANNE KREITER/GLOBE STAFF

MassCEC Seeking Applicants for Triple Decker Retrofit Pilot

I don't know how many triple deckers we have in Franklin. I believe the current building code is such that we couldn't build one. That I think is an issue. This type of housing could be a worthy addition to our housing stock in Franklin.

 

Apply by Dec. 21st!

View this email in your browser The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) is now accepting applications for the market rate track of the Triple Decker Retrofit Pilot. This pilot builds on the lessons learned from our Triple Decker Design Challenge and will offer selected triple decker owners: Technical support to implement a high-efficiency, all-electric retrofit Financial incentives: Up to $70,000 for a standard triple decker retrofit Up to $125,000 for triple deckers adding a new unit as part of the project Performance monitoring  This is a great opportunity to get the technical support and financial assistance to bring your triple decker into the 21st century! Please share this opportunity with your network! If you might be interested, please reach out with any and all questions to buildings@masscec.com.   Learn More & Apply Copyright © 2022 Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Massachusetts Clean Energy Center 294 Washington St. Suite 1150 Boston, MA 02108

02038.com: "Million dollar homes shock no more in Franklin, MA"

Realtor Warren Reynolds has some very interesting statistics on the real estate market in Franklin, MA as he looks back at 2021. A worthy read especially to help inform the ongoing discussion around Franklin housing as well as the need for more affordable housing in Franklin.

 

"Highest home sale in 2021
The highest price paid for a single-family home in Franklin during 2021 was $1,677,900. While decidedly small potatoes in many of the affluent communities throughout Greater Boston, it was the highest price ever paid for a home in Franklin listed on MLS-PIN. 

Before 2021, Franklin’s record-high sale price on MLS-PIN was $1,577,000, which was set in 2020. 

Franklin’s sale price record broken five times in 2021
What’s most noteworthy about 2021’s housing market in Franklin is that the town’s record-high sale price set in 2020 was surpassed FIVE times just one year later in 2021!"

One of the key markers in the demographics study done for Franklin Public Schools in the number of annual home sales. The ability for housing to turnover is one of the factors for population. Franklin had dropped in annual sales during 2020 and has recovered to more of a recent volume with 332 sales.

The number of single-family home sales in Franklin recorded on MLS-PIN during 2021 was significantly higher than the previous year’s total

Continue reading his recap of 2021

https://02038.com/2022/01/franklin-2021/

Franklin, MA: FY 2022 Tax Rate Information (Franklin Matters view)

The Town Administration and Board of Assessors prepared the following to present the FY 2022 tax rate info for the public hearing at the Town Council meeting on Wednesday, Dec 1, 2021. 

My version shares the information with some chart views that I think help tell the story better (my 2 cents). 

The official data and presentation copy ->    https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/6._tax_classification.pdf

My view ->   https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/13BJB50G7qg3nU2_cS74HGxAFkgJMwJ8Syi_znlkcgSc/edit?usp=sharing

tax rate chart vs. net change in property valuations 1988-2022

Franklin, MA FY 2022 Tax Rate Information from Franklin Matters

"Affordable housing projects often draw resistance from neighbors"

"Housing costs are soaring across southern Maine, driving families from the towns where they were raised and bringing tensions to a boil as young residents and retirees struggle to compete against an influx of out-of-staters and well-off buyers.

That dynamic, which has intensified across the country during the pandemic, has unsettled quiet Cape Elizabeth, an affluent coastal community just south of Portland, where a proposal to build the town’s first affordable housing project in 50 years has pitted neighbor against neighbor and raised hard questions of who can afford to live here.

“This is a community of tremendous privilege and wealth, but there are other people in this town who are not well-off,” said Jamie Garvin, the Town Council chairman who supports the 49-unit project. “People are being priced out of the community they’ve lived in for a number of years.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/23/metro/affordable-housing-plan-divides-affluent-portland-suburb/ 

Portland, Maine is not alone in having this affordable housing discussion. With the Housing Production Plan being worked on currently, this is a timely topic. Public comment on the Plan closed at the end of June. The revised draft is expected to come back out for review and comment as it needs approval from both the Planning Board and the Town Council. The plan is a component of the overall "Master Plan" for Franklin for which the update process is scheduled to begin next year.

Current draft of the Housing Production Plan

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/franklin_housing_production_plan_-_may_2021_public_draft.pdf

Current Master Plan  https://www.franklinma.gov/planning-community-development/pages/master-plan

The most recent virtual meeting on Housing took place July 14, 2021 and the audio recording is available here  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/07/fm-580-community-conversation-on.html

FM #580 - Community Conversation on Housing & Race - 07/14/21 (audio)

New York Times: "Where Have All the Houses Gone?"

"This picture is a product of the pandemic, but also of the years leading up to it. And if half of what is happening in the for-sale market now seems straightforward — historically low interest rates and a pandemic desire for more space are driving demand — the other half is more complicated.

“The supply side is really tricky,” said Benjamin Keys, an economist at the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. “Who wants to sell a house in the middle of a pandemic? That’s what I keep coming back to. Is this a time you want to open your house up to people walking through it? No, of course not.”

A majority of homeowners in America are baby boomers — a group at heightened risk from the coronavirus. If many of them have been reluctant to move out and downsize over the past year, that makes it hard for other families behind them to move in and upgrade."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/upshot/where-have-all-the-houses-gone.html

As a "baby boomer", we (my wife and I) are looking to downsize and the problem we find is that there is not an acceptable smaller option for us readily available in Franklin, or even in MA. While some of what I would like is available in the South (North, South Carolinas, etc...)  I don't want to go there. 

The article touches on this in mentioning baby boomers but doesn't get into the nature of the supply problem: What kind of inventory do we have? (Whether it is available or not is a separate piece for now). Do we have inventory that would meet the needs of the marketplace and the population now and near term?

Instead of building apartments why not serve the growing sector of the market (i.e. the aging boomers). The Town used the demographics to expand the Senior Center. How come the developers are not using those demographics?

New York Times:  "Where Have All the Houses Gone?"

Your input is needed for this Short Housing Survey

Short Housing Survey

1 - Please take a few moments to respond to our short housing survey. You can find it HERE: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/11ntyxG2AYmXct2kvHRct1r_UioDqQjh6KQrAV2LKmjs/viewform?


2 - In addition, if you have not yet responded to our Economic Development Survey, please find it HERE: https://forms.gle/6SJpXeWPvg2H37A96

Both surveys close on December 13.

Thank you in advance for your time and input!

 

Your input is needed for this Short Housing Survey

In the News: home sales, virtual school

Driven by high demand and a shortage of houses on the market, more single-family homes were sold in Massachusetts last month than in any January since 2007, two organizations that track the real estate market reported Tuesday. 

Median prices also shot up, according to analyses by The Massachusetts Association of Realtors and The Warren Group. 

"The continued combination of buyer demand and a shortage of inventory resulted in prices rising in January," Realtors' President Peter Ruffini said. "Buyer demand also drove sales up, which puts emphasis on the need for more home sellers to enter the market. Rising prices mean more equity for homeowners and therefore a greater number may be in a better position to sell."

Read the full article here:
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140225/NEWS/140227791/1994/NEWS

The state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education this morning approved a regional education collaborative’s plan to open a virtual school next year. 

The Education Cooperative, which is based in Dedham and has Framingham and several other MetroWest districts as members, will be able enroll up to 2,000 students in grades K-12 from around the state at the new TEC Connections Academy. 

The school will join the Massachusetts Virtual Academy at Greenfield as the only two public virtual schools operating in the state.

Read the full article here:
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140225/NEWS/140227776

"a foretaste of things to come"

Realtor Warren Reynolds writes:

Demographic trends are very powerful forces in the social and economic development of any society. In every decade of the latter half of the 20th Century, the US experienced the profound influence of the Baby Boom generation (both for the good and the bad). Now we may stand poised to benefit in coming decades from the economic and social vitality about to be unleashed by the Millennial Generation as they come of economic age. There are many reasons for optimism about our futures!

Read more about the increase in housing prices and why this is a good thing

Why housing may stay on the rise

Franklin MA Holds Steady

While the town of Franklin, Massachusetts has not escaped financial struggles just like most metro west of Boston towns, it appears to have really held its own on the housing front. Homes in Franklin have only marginally lost value during this recession compared to other surrounding towns and informed buyers still seem to choose Franklin over other towns due to a variety of reasons. Most cite the easy commute to highways including Routes 495, 95 and the Mass. Pike. Others focus on the strong school system or the commuter rail service with two Franklin stops. Many agree that the lower property taxes and a wealth of services were contributing factors in their decision.


A 9 month review of five area towns from the Multiple Listing Service reveals the following data:

Community	Within 2% of SP	Avg SP	# Homes
Franklin	98%	$403,410	180
Wrentham	96%	$413,992	65
Bellingham	97%	$279,942	109
Milford	96%	$272,015	117
Medway	96%	$362,435	88

Note: SP is "Selling Price"




This data is all very interesting and although someone would expect that the lower priced towns would attract more buyers, it is clear that the town and what it has to offer make all the difference. Franklin posted higher priced average sales over the past 9 months but had 180 homes sold!

Franklin, MA remains a great value and presently homes are selling rather quickly with at least 3 homes over the past few weeks selling during their first day on the market. If you have questions about the local real estate market, please feel free to email or call me at 508-369-5131. For more resources and information, check out my website.

Authored by: Kathy Stankard, of The Kelly & Colombo Group at RE/MAX Executive Realty.