30-07-2025
Downtown Boston housing prices have stagnated. Here's what that means for the city.
And, in some ways, that's exactly what happened. A sorely needed supermarket — Roche Bros. — moved in as part of the project, as did other retail.
Still, lots of storefronts on Washington Street remained empty, many for years on end. And then, in the spring of 2020, COVID drove workers — and some residents — away. Pabu shut its doors permanently.
Advertisement
Now, as office building prices
Advertisement
The drive to build makes sense: Who wouldn't want to live within a 10-minute walk of Boston Common, Beacon Hill, Chinatown, and Back Bay? If you work in the Financial District, you could stroll to the office in a few minutes, rather than inching along I-93 for an hour — or two — every day.
But here's the problem. While housing prices in Massachusetts have
Take, as an example,
Meanwhile, between 2014 and 2025, homes in the Boston metro area — which includes a wide swath around the city — have
So what's going on, and what does it all mean? Why haven't downtown housing prices appreciated? According to experts, there are a few reasons.
First, there has been an exodus to the suburbs — even among Millennials who once seemed to embrace city life. In the 2010s, we heard a lot about young people opting for urban areas, notes Riordan Frost, a senior research analyst at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. But now, he says, 'more Millennials are suburbanizing than are not.'
Advertisement
That's in part because of the pandemic, according to Frost. Lower-density dwellings and remote work became more popular. And demand for suburban living has pushed up home prices more quickly in 'lower-density suburban counties, smaller metro counties, and non-metro counties.' But, he notes, 'prices are still the highest in urban counties and higher-density suburban counties,' so less dense places still feel like a bargain in comparison to Boston and nearby towns.
'Those who can afford the $5-10 million to buy a brownstone' in Back Bay, the South End, or Beacon Hill sometimes do, says Alexandra Conigliaro Biega, a principal at the realty firm Compass. But most don't have that kind of money.
And few places in Boston accommodate families with two or three kids, who want a parking spot. 'Add the [mortgage] rates on top of that, and they're fleeing to the suburbs,' says Biega. (She believes that foreign buyers were also more active in the purchasing of luxury condo units during the Millennium Tower
Another reason downtown prices haven't appreciated is that — despite
Advertisement
And the less often workers have to go into the city, the less painful it is to endure traffic. A commute that might seem intolerable if you have to do it every day might seem quite reasonable twice a week.
That has resulted in '
Downtown Crossing in particular — compared with other Boston neighborhoods — has struggled to bounce back. 'There's a pocket over there that's a little unsafe and not that desirable,' says Biega.
According to Boston Police, 995 crimes were reported downtown in 2024 — 'the highest level in at least seven years,'
Mayoral candidate Josh Kraft has
Finally, when it comes to price appreciation for downtown homes, there's this: Most of the homes in question are condos. And 'condos are fundamentally different from single-family housing,' says Leah Brooks, a professor of public policy and public administration at George Washington University.
Advertisement
Brooks offers up elevators as a case in point. 'Even if you live on the first floor, the condo still has an elevator.' Which, along with the landscaping, roof, and so forth, are 'public goods,' she says, and have to be maintained.
But her research suggests that because not all condo owners benefit equally from public goods — for example, units on the first floor may not care about the state of the elevator — buildings can be under-maintained. 'Condos have much greater age-related depreciation than single-family homes,' she says.
This problem can be particularly acute if residents are lower-income and struggle to afford special assessments — temporary payments that can be crucial to fixing expensive parts of buildings, like roofs.
Still, the City and State are
Of course, lawmakers can't compel lawyers or financial analysts to come into the office five days a week. Nor can they easily win over families hankering for a lawn. But they can make a real effort to make Downtown Crossing as clean and family-friendly as other nearby neighborhoods. Residents, tourists, and workers alike deserve no less.
Follow Kara Miller
