Question 7 Could Blow Up Massachusetts’ Biggest Housing Rule

Massachusetts voters will decide something big this November. It's called Legalize Starter Homes, and it could change how homes get built across the state.

Right now, a lot of towns near Boston require at least an acre of land before you can build a house. Some require two. This ballot question would let towns allow much smaller lots, as small as 5,000 square feet, so builders can put up smaller, cheaper homes again.

I went looking for what that actually means in dollars. Over in Wakefield on Beebe Lane, a 1,548 square foot house sold for $1,000,000 back in April. Then I drove to Pittsfield with local realtor Cory Bishop from Bishop West Real Estate and toured a starter home about the same size, just a little older, listed at $239,000. Same state. Same kind of house. A price gap that's hard to wrap your head around!

Bishop told me he supports the ballot question. He sees firsthand how hard it is for people to find an affordable starter home right now, no matter what side of the state they're on.

It got personal for me too. My dad bought our family home back in 1998 for $168,000. Zillow has it listed today around $717,000. That's not a typo. That's just what almost 30 years of housing prices in Massachusetts looks like.

Meanwhile, my own brother is 35, works as a union electrician, and still lives at home with my mom. He's not out of work. He just can't make the math work to move out on his own.

Bishop told me his kids live at home as well.