While Boston is undergoing a surge of residential construction, the majority are luxury rentals that go for $3,500 or more per month, according to bostonglobe.com. While only 22 percent of the 6,600 rental and ownership units across the city under construction are affordable to households earning between $50,000 and $100,000, most of those are also rentals, making homeownership for middle-income Bostonians difficult to attain. Mayor Martin J. Walsh says, “Property values are skyrocketing and we need to create more opportunities for home ownership. Construction of high-end units have been outpacing those for moderate income, and we have to try to do a better job of balancing that.” In downtown Boston, would-be homeowners earning the city average of $80,000 annually could only afford 1.7 percent of the homes sold.

To that end, MHProNews.com has learned, Sheila Dillon, the mayor’s housing chief, has formed a group of developers, affordable housing advocates and urban planners to consider housing alternatives for those with middle incomes, and one of the options is modular homes and apartments because of the lower construction costs and faster building. Luxury projects are highly profitable for the developers, and state and federal funds are available for low-income housing, but banks have not had much success with middle-income building, and government resources are scarce for such enterprise. ##

(Photo credit: citycountryliving.com–modular home in the city)