Boston Residents Voice Discontent About Housing Costs

Jun 26, 2017

Twenty-six percent of prospective homebuyers were scoping out other metro areas beyond their home base during the third quarter, according to new data from Redfin

There is a growing level of discontent among Boston residents regarding the cost of living.

According to a new Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll that ranked the cost of housing on a scale of 1 to 5, 49.2 percent of respondents rated housing costs with a 1, or “Very Dissatisfied,” while 21.6 percent rated it a 2. In comparison, 5.2 percent of voters rated the cost of housing a 5, or “Very Satisfied,” while six percent gave it a 4.

Furthermore, 34.2 percent of respondents said they were very dissatisfied with the overall cost of living, and 24.4 percent said they were somewhat dissatisfied. But only 17.4 percent of respondents selected the cost of housing as the top issue among seven socioeconomic concerns impacting their lives.

“We didn’t know going into the poll where these numbers were going to fall,” said David Paleologos, Director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center. “That’s an overwhelming poll number.”
Paleologos added that he hoped the survey could be used by policymakers as “a tool, a compass to try to figure out how to make the quality of life better for Boston residents.” The survey polled 500 residents by telephone between June 19 and June 21.

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Phil Hall

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Jun 26, 2017

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