The flippers make Mass. housing crisis worse

“There Goes the Neighborhood (mixed-media installation), by Brookline-based Ronni Komarow, at Galatea Fine Art, Boston, March 2-April 2.

She explains:

"In 2021, business entities purchased nearly 6,600 single-family homes in Massachusetts, more than 9 percent of all single-family homes sold and nearly double the rate of such purchases a decade before. Investors and other businesses...spent more than $5.6 billion in Massachusetts purchasing these properties, the majority in cash, to rent or flip as the state’s housing market rises.

“Investors are spurred by high demand for housing, rising rents and soaring home values, making it a lucrative business. But housing advocates say the trend is making it harder for individual homeowners to buy and driving up rents, so renters get priced out….

“As an advocate for historic preservation in Boston, I'm mindful that many of these would-be buyers would demolish a purchased home quickly and replace it with the largest, cheapest structure possible, to be sold at the greatest profit. None of these would-be buyers live in the city or have any interest in neighborhoods, community preservation, or quality of life for local residents.’’