Boston.com: Here’s how Mayor Wu is planning to turn renters into homebuyers

Marta Hill, Boston.com

As part of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s operating budget proposal and federal spending plan that were filed earlier this month, the city prioritized using funds to address the city’s housing crisis and expand affordable homeownership. In a press conference with other community leaders on Tuesday, Wu highlighted the proposal to invest $106 million in homeownership opportunities for Boston residents over three years.

“Homeownership is so critical to our goals and our future as a city,” Wu said at the press conference. “It’s crucial to building generational wealth and long-term stability for families. And I couldn’t think of a city with more committed community partners and leaders and grassroots organizing efforts to make sure that, from all sides, we are doing everything possible to build a city for everyone.”

Representatives from the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, or GBIO, and Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, or MAHA, were also in attendance Tuesday.

Of the $106 million, $60 million is from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, and the remaining $46 million is city funds, according to Wu.

The ARPA funds will go to three main areas: accelerating the production of affordable housing units, supporting down payment assistance programs, and expanding the ONE+Boston Mortgage program.

“We are moving against a legacy and generations of actions before, that have built up barriers specifically in the way for families of color. Because of decades of discriminatory lending practices [and] a history of redlining, homeownership in Boston today still varies largely by race,” Wu said. “Many first generation homebuyers also face higher barriers to homeownership, such as in securing funds for down payments and closing costs.

“We have an opportunity to change that in Boston, to transform what homeownership looks like today and for generations to come,” she said.

Massachusetts has a homeownership rate of 62%, according to Wu, but Boston’s rate is much lower, coming in at only 35%. Within the overall rate, Wu noted that there are significant differences by race — 44% of white households are homeowners while only 31% of Black or African-American households, 30% of Asian or Pacific Islander households, and 17% of Hispanic or Latnix households are.

Wu was joined at the press conference by City Councilors Kenzi Bok, Kendra Lara, Ricardo Arroyo, and Ruthzee Louijeune, and community and city leaders including Boston’s Chief of Housing Sheila Dillon, the Executive Director of MAHA Symone Crawford, and Executive Team Leader with GBIO Beverly Williams.

“I know that this $106 million is going to make impacts not just in this generation of people who are getting it, but in future generations of folks who are going to be able to live in homes, have homes in Boston that they can call their own,” Arroyo said. “This is fantastic and phenomenal.”

Several community members who have first-hand experience navigating the complicated process that is buying a home in Boston also spoke.

Wu emphasized that this investment is not the end of the work needed to address inequities in housing in Boston.

“I want to note that $106 million for homeownership is not enough. It’s still just a drop in the bucket. But we are trying to change that bucket and rebuild the entire system,” Wu said. “Along with that, this $106 million for homeownership is part of our larger allocation towards housing stability as the foundation for our recovery.”

The proposed $106 million investment is part of a $380 million commitment to address housing affordability and stability, according to the Mayor’s Office.

The proposed FY23 Operating Budget also includes $3.4 million for assistance programs over the next three years, totalling $10.2 million.

“Today, Mayor Wu has given hope to hundreds of homebuyers who fear they might have to leave the city because home prices and interest rates are rising,” Crawford, from MAHA, said. “We are thrilled to stand here today in a city where we are not afraid to be bold.”

The proposal categorized funds for two programs specifically, ONE+Boston and the financial assistance program for first-time homebuyers, or FAP. Together, according to the Mayor’s Office, the two programs assisted more than 150 households to buy homes last year, 60% of which were Black, Indigenous, or People of Color.

ONE+Boston offers low fixed interest rates for 30-year mortgages and provides access to closing-cost and downpayment assistance, according to its website. The financial assistance program through the Boston Home Center offers no-interest loans to qualifying households.

“This is an area where in years past sometimes we’ve thought about homeownership and housing as a state or federal issue, right? It is too big. How can we possibly try to affect something as large as the housing market which is controlled and pushed and pulled by the forces of markets across the world?” Wu said.

Wu said these investments will support first-time homebuyers, drive the building of generational wealth, and move Boston one step closer to being a Green New Deal city.

“What organizers throughout our neighborhoods have done is to say, ‘One family at a time, we’re going to make sure that people have the tools that they need, the knowledge and power to move forward on that and the funding and the financing to make that a reality,’” Wu said.

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