Tax-happy lawmakers eye home sales
Real estate group slams transfer fees on pricey properties
As the housing crisis continues to take a toll on Massachusetts, the Greater Boston Real Estate Board is urging residents to tell lawmakers to stay away from enacting a tax on pricey real estate deals.
The Greater Boston Real Estate Board has launched what it’s describing as a “multifaceted digital and grassroots activation campaign” centered around how the state Legislature should instead focus on “workable housing solutions.”
Residents can contact legislators to speak against transfer taxes via the opposition campaign website, StopNewTaxesMa.com, which includes “text messages and patch-through calls.” It also features online and Facebook advertisements to educate voters.
Gov. Maura Healey wants to add a real estate transaction fee of 0.5% to 2% on the portion of a property sale over $1 million, or the county median home sale price, with the revenue generated from the fee directed to affordable housing development.
The governor’s request is part of a $4 billion bond bill her administration released last October. The fee, projected to affect fewer than 14% of all residential sales, would be paid by the seller of the property.
“Increasing housing costs during an affordability crisis makes zero sense and we need to broadcast that message loud and clear, so legislators are keenly aware,” board CEO Greg Vasil said in a statement.
Eighteen cities and towns across the Bay State are already waiting for action from the state Legislature home rule petitions to enact the so-called “real estate transfer fee” proposals in their respective communities, a concept aimed at spurring affordable housing production.
The Greater Boston Real Estate Board’s campaign comes after officials from 29 municipalities signed onto a letter to Democratic legislative leaders last week, urging them to pass the local-option real estate transfer fee. Among those supporting the measure include Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, Malden Mayor Gary Christenson and Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson.
“Transfer fees alone will not solve our housing crises,” a portion of the letter states, “but taken together with state investments and other policy changes, transfer fees will allow us to invest local money in our local challenges and deliver better results for residents.”
The Greater Boston Real Estate Board suggests lawmakers zero in on reducing “red tape around the creation of Accessory Dwelling Units,” developing housing on unused state-owned land, and ensuring all cities and towns meet their “10% affordable housing spending threshold.”
“Massachusetts politicians are considering new sales taxes on home and real estate purchases,” the campaign states. “If passed, renters, young people seeking to enter the housing market, and retirees looking to downsize would foot the bill for years of government inaction on fixing the state’s housing crisis.”