Rising home prices and a continuing housing shortage are the most salient political issues in Massachusetts, and a new poll finds that no other issue ranks equally in the minds of state residents. According to the latest UMass Amherst/WCVB poll results, 34% of people say the housing shortage and rising home prices are the top policy issue that Governor Maura Healey and the Legislature should address. That’s up from 31% in the October poll. The next highest priority issue in the poll was immigration, cited by 18% of respondents. No other issue was selected by more than 9% of those polled. The poll’s topline poll crosstab poll results are based on responses from 700 people collected between May 17-30. The margin of error is 4.4%. A majority of respondents somewhat or strongly support policy proposals such as allowing local governments to limit annual rent increases, encouraging developers to convert unused office buildings into housing, allowing homeowners to build accessory dwelling units on their own land, taxing real estate transactions over $1 million to fund affordable housing, providing tax abatements to developers of low-income housing, and requiring MBTA-served towns to create new multifamily zoning. Of the 52 respondents who tried to buy a home in the past year, 44% said they were unable to find a suitable home within their budget, and 35% said their purchase offer was turned down. Another 34% said they were unable to find a vacant home that fit their needs. Of the 108 people who tried to rent a home in the past year, 63% said they were unable to find a suitable rental property within their budget, and 38% said they were unable to save up the first and last month’s rent and security deposit. Of the 256 respondents who said they had considered moving out of Massachusetts, the most common destinations were New Hampshire, Florida, and the Carolinas. Other findings from the poll included that 50% said Democrats’ control of all constitutional offices and the Legislature is very or somewhat good for Massachusetts, while 20% were neutral on the issue. With regard to the economy, the poll found a higher level of optimism about the state of Massachusetts than the nation as a whole: 5% said the national economy is good, 32% said it’s good, 6% said the state’s economy is good, and 47% said it’s good. Meanwhile, 7% said their personal economic situation is good, and 38% said it’s good.
Rising home prices and a continuing housing shortage remain the most salient political issues in Massachusetts, with no other issue coming close to taking center stage in the minds of state residents, according to a new poll.
Results of the latest UMass Amherst/WCVB poll show that 34% of respondents said the housing shortage and rising home prices are the top political issues they want Gov. Maura Healey and the Legislature to solve, up from 31% in an October poll.
The next most important issue in the poll was immigration, chosen by 18% of respondents. No other issue was chosen by more than 9% of respondents.
The poll results are based on responses from 700 people collected between May 17 and 30. The margin of error is 4.4 percentage points.
A majority of respondents somewhat or strongly support policy proposals such as allowing local governments to limit annual rent increases, encouraging developers to convert unused office buildings into housing, allowing homeowners to build accessory dwelling units on their own land, taxing real estate transactions over $1 million to fund affordable housing, offering tax breaks to developers of low-income housing, and requiring the MBTA to create new multifamily zoning in towns it serves.
Of the 52 respondents who tried to buy a home in the past year, 44% said they were unable to find a suitable home within their budget, 35% said they made an offer but were turned down, and a further 34% said they just couldn’t find a home that met their needs.
Of the 108 people who tried to rent a home in the past year, 63% said they were unable to find a suitable rental property within their budget, and 38% said they were unable to save up for the first and last month’s rent and a deposit.
Of the 256 respondents who said they had considered moving out of Massachusetts, the most popular states for relocation were New Hampshire, Florida and the Carolinas.
Other findings from the poll included that 50% said Democrats controlling all constitutional offices and the Legislature would be very or somewhat good for Massachusetts, while 20% were neutral on the issue.
When it comes to the economy, the poll found that people in Massachusetts are more optimistic about the situation than the nation as a whole: 5% say the national economy is good, 32% say it’s good, 6% say the state economy is good, 47% say it’s good, while 7% say their personal financial situation is good, 38% say it’s good.
