Will new construction homes ever be affordable again? (Boston, Worcester: townhomes, buyers)

[fabfan84]

If you're looking for new construction, Massachusetts is not the state for you.

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by fabfan84

If you're looking for new construction, Massachusetts is not the state for you.

Good advice. That ship has sailed in the greater Boston area.

[mdovell]

There's a number of factors with new construction. Unless you are going to really cram units in I can't see that much being cheap. In western mass I've seen new home construction but it isn't cheap

Northern berkshire county
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...62751269_zpid/
400K for that! That amount of space? Seriously

South berkshire county
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...61203206_zpid/
900K This has to sell to someone from NY. I can't picture anyone wanting to pay that price for that.

this is a new development but it seems to be the only new development in western mass

https://greensofsouthwick.com this is the only significant development in western mass

If you go to zillow and look up new home construction and zoom out there is a huger lack of new homes in Mass. Southern Maine and NH sure, CT and eastern NY sure, RI sure but a total lack in mass and much of vermont

Some of this is weird.
So this is new but it's also unfinished
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...49424793_zpid/

tiny home at 200K
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...96069513_zpid/

next year in RI at 325K
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/0...21784643_zpid/

There's a large number of false positives for new construction. I'd argue if you really want a new house you have to go out of state and even then it's still going to be at least 250-300K for starters.

[msRB311]

Some of these new constructions homes are ugly. A few have gone up in my area and they all look the same. They're all white with those black windows (I don't know the names for the styles nor do I care to look right now). All went for about 2 million and woods were torn down to build them.

I've seen situations where homes were torn down and new house was built in its place. That bothers me less since the house was already there.

There's also little space to build on in the greater boston area. I really don't know what people are thinking. Should we start tearing down blue hills and mystic river state reservation so more greedy people who want boston high salaries can move in? or should we build affordable housing in these places and taxpayers can pay?

Sorry folks boston is full as far as new construction goes.

[newenglandgal123]

Here's an example of the house you are describing...not quite $2mil but almost. If you pull the location up on street view maps, definitely looks like it was once a heavily wooded area that they cleared for this monstrosity. I think 4,000 sq ft is a lot more house than most folks actually need. Who are the folks buying these things, do they all have 3+ kids?



https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5...60856133_zpid/

[msRB311]

yes! That is the type of house I was thinking of. I mean it's nice, don't get me wrong but the same type of house is everywhere.

[BostonMike7]

I do agree. New construction all looks the same but it's probably because the builders know it will sell and don't want to roll the dice on something a little less common which might have fewer buyers.


I also think, with regards to eastern MA/Metro Boston, that in order to turn a profit on a new construction in MA, you are looking at something in the 7-figure range. Teardowns are in the $500K+ range in some of the cities surrounding 95/128. I don't see being able to offer a $700K new construction within 495 as possible

[brk330]

Originally Posted by gf2020

Hey, I'm not saying it's something I would do, but the OP was claiming you couldn't find new construction in the $700s.

Here's another: https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...2_M93554-00627

[mmyk72]

Originally Posted by msRB311

You're probably right. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next year. Tech companies have been doing layoffs for the past few months so there is that...there still doesn't seem to be a shortage of high paying tech/pharma/medical jobs in the area though.

Tech workers being laid off can often find jobs in many other industries that need tech skills. I don't think there will be all of a sudden lots of people jobless for a long time. That's why I don't see a massive change in housing demand (as in tons of people need to sell their house asap).

My observation is new construction 25+ yrs ago can be a modest size & quality house affordable to a family with slightly above average income. A new construction these days is meant to maximize return with the house square footage tipping what is allowed on the lot and finishes that look like a house on a magazine cover which means affordability shifts to very high income families.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

I do agree. New construction all looks the same but it's probably because the builders know it will sell and don't want to roll the dice on something a little less common which might have fewer buyers.


I also think, with regards to eastern MA/Metro Boston, that in order to turn a profit on a new construction in MA, you are looking at something in the 7-figure range. Teardowns are in the $500K+ range in some of the cities surrounding 95/128. I don't see being able to offer a $700K new construction within 495 as possible

Um, weren't people in here complaining about a new house that looked different in Burlington?

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5...57054497_zpid/