In the Media

Buying a house, long a signifier of middle-class status, is considered the most dependable way to build wealth. But in Greater Boston, doing so requires a household income of $229,000, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. That’s more than twice the income needed 10 years ago.

According to the 2025 State of the Nation’s Housing report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, from 2020 to 2021, large metro suburbs saw an increase in residents, but smaller metro areas and rural counties saw larger relative populations moving in.

“Many potential buyers are really maxed out on cost,” said Daniel McCue, senior research associate at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. “Lower interest rates can only get them so far.”

Rachel Drew, director of the Remodeling Futures Program at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, said the trend shows up clearly in her research. “It’s not uncommon for people to remake the house they’re in,” she said. “They like their neighborhood, they may not have the funds to move, or they have favorable loan terms they’re unwilling to give up.”

A recent study by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found that renters who wanted to buy a home last year under terms typical to first-time homebuyers—a 30-year loan with a 3.5 percent down payment—were facing monthly mortgage payments of $2,570, 40 percent higher than they were in 1990.

Home prices hit a new all-time high in 2024, with the median at $412,500. A borrower would need an annual income of at least $126,700 to afford a mortgage payment on a home of that price, using the traditional lender ratio of 31% debt to income, according to calculations from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies.

“People get expectations rooted in their mortgage payments or in their psychology and they just don’t sell,” says Chris Herbert, managing director of the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Most older Americans want to age in place, electing to remain in their homes rather than move into senior housing facilities, according to a 2024 survey by AARP, the advocacy organization focused on older Americans. Yet fewer than 4 percent of American homes have basic accessibility features. “It’s a really dire situation,” said Jennifer Molinsky, director of the Housing an Aging Society Program at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Millions have been priced out of the market due to high housing costs and interest rates, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. In 2024, the national median single-family home price grew to five times the median household income, according to the center.

There is no one solution to the housing crisis in Maine. That's the message of Dr. Chris Herbert, managing director of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies and keynote speaker at a conference of real estate professionals in Portland this week.