ANNIVERSARY BY THE NUMBERS
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R E AA LL EES ST T F AI N A INA CL I IANLF OI R NM F A O TRI M A TSI I O RE AA T ET E& & FIN NC ON NN C E S 1I 8N7C2 E
County close-up: Berkshire Spotlight: Cheshire
IN PERSON
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Using the same collaborative strategies that powered the Cambridge Innovation Center, founder Tim Rowe has helped Massachusetts fight the COVID-19 pandemic with hundreds of testing sites and vaccination clinics.
WEEK OF MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2022
RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE BY THE NUMBERS
12 percent Demand for purchase loans is up to 12 percent off last year. See Week on the Web on page 2. Source: Mortgage Bankers Association
$282,000 The median single-family sale price so far this year in Berkshire County. See By the Numbers on page 6. Source: The Warren Group’s Statistics Module
8.3 percent A new mortgage borrower’s median monthly payment rose 8.3 percent between January and February. See Week on the Web on page 2. Source: Mortgage Bankers Association
211 The number of single-family sales so far this year in Berkshire County. See By the Numbers on page 6. Source: The Warren Group’s Statistics Module
$1,653 The national median payment applied for by purchase mortgage applicants in February. See Week on the Web on page 2. Source: Mortgage Bankers Association
$4.83 million The most expensive, existing recent single-family home sale in Berkshire County. See By the Numbers on page 6. Source: The Warren Group
4.67 percent The average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed rate mortgage last week. See Week on the Web on page 2. Source: Freddie Mac
1,539 The number of homes in Cheshire. See the Town Spotlight in By the Numbers on page 6. Source: Census Bureau
Unless otherwise noted, all data is sourced from The Warren Group’s Mortgage Market Share Module, Loan Originator Module, Statistics Module and/or proprietary database. For more information please visit www.thewarrengroup.com/business/ datasolutions.
Nantucket voters will consider new regulations on short-term vacation rentals, renewing a debate over property rights, enforcement and housing policy.
ROUND TWO
SHORT-TERM RENTAL BATTLE RETURNS TO NANTUCKET
Group Seeks to Block Outside Investors BY STEVE ADAMS BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
N
antucket has some of the nation’s priciest real estate including a thriving short-term rental industry that brings vacationers to an estimated one in six homes on the island each year. What was once a source of additional income for island residents is being transformed in the Airbnb era. Vacation rental sites such as Heirloom now advertise luxury compounds equipped to accommodate dozens of guests and renting for nearly $3,700 per night.
A nonprofit group, ACKNow, says the Airbnb effect has driven up costs and diminished the island’s supply of rental housing. Nantucket voters will consider three articles designed to address the issue at the May 2 annual town meeting, but with two different sponsors and strategies to govern short-term rentals in the future. A nonprofit group, ACKNow, says the Airbnb effect has driven up costs and diminished the island’s supply of rental
housing. More than 600 year-round rentals were removed from Nantucket’s housing stock between 2010 and 2018, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The group’s citizens petition, which is article 43 at the town meeting, would require non-full-time residents to obtain a special permit from the town Zoning Board of Appeals to offer short-term rentals as an accessory use. ACKNow, whose executive director is former Nantucket Select Board member Tobias Glidden, did not respond to messages from Banker & Tradesman seeking comment. In advocacy materials, the organization says “investors, from Boston to China, are buying homes on the island and turning them into tricked-out shortterm rentals.”
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COMMERCIAL INTERESTS
HELP OR HINDER?
Local Opposition to Transit-Oriented Zoning Builds
Bills Aimed at Helping Business Owners of Color Find Financing
By Scott Van Voorhis | Banker & Tradesman Columnist
By Diane McLaughlin | Banker & Tradesman Staff
New Round of Zoning Reforms Advocates Push Public Surfaces on Beacon Hill Bank on Beacon Hill
Commercial Real Estate PAGE 3
Banking & Lending PAGE 9