Gov. Baker’s bill a long overdue boost to housing

You’d never know that Massachusetts has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country by its out-of-control housing market.

The coronavirus pandemic forced many of those still gainfully employed to work from home, which probably contributed to a spike in demand by renters for a permanent roof of their own.

But a widening imbalance in the supply-and-demand housing equation has left potential buyers behind the eight ball.

The latest numbers from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors reinforce that discouraging picture. According to figures released Tuesday, the median price of a single-family home in the state soared 8.4%, to $475,000, in July, while condominium prices rose 6%, to a median of $423,500.

We might have expected a virus-induced pause after April figures saw a single-family home price jump to $428,000, but that obviously hasn’t happened.

A severe lack of inventory serves as the catalyst for these higher prices, along with historically low mortgage rates.

Unfortunately, those low rates just invite even more people into an already overheated housing market. A shortage of residential options isn’t anything new, though it’s probably been exacerbated by potential sellers’ reluctance to put their home on the market during a pandemic. July’s stock of singlefamily houses for sale was half the number compared to the same month last year, leaving prospective buyers competing among themselves for the few available choices.

But as this lack of affordable housing has reached a crisis level in this state, no steps have been taken to create more residential units.

Gov. Charlie Baker has attempted to break this logjam for several years with a housing bill that among other initiatives, would facilitate more construction by eliminating the two-thirds supermajority to approve zoning changes.

Current zoning laws shield NIMBY cities and towns from accepting new housing projects due to this often insurmountable two-thirds majority standard. As a result, many proposals that would help ease this housing crunch can’t overcome that hurdle.

This impasse creates hardships throughout the housing sector by forcing more families to remain renters, which of course strains the supply and raises the rates of those units.

Most of the state business leaders have acknowledged this threat to the viability of the economy, and have lobbied the Legislature to pass Baker’s bill as a first step to alleviating this problem.

But enough state lawmakers, under pressure from the many affluent communities that seek to keep the status quo, have prevented the governor’s bill or any others from moving through the legislative pipeline.

Legislators again failed to reach a consensus as the formal session reached its supposed July 31 deadline, first eliminating and then reinstating Baker’s measure in sweeping economic-development legislation.

However, now with that legislative session extended for possibly the entire year, the Senate and House have another opportunity to finally push this bill over the finish line.

As it stands, both House and Senate’s economic-stimulus bills contain a version of Baker’s housing proposal. These bills must be reconciled into a single piece of legislation before coming up for a vote by the full Legislature. That housing measure must be included in this final compromise bill.

Waiting for legislation that satisfies everyone’s wish list simply ensures what Beacon Hill does best — nothing.

This crisis deserves action, not inertia.