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12 Worcester Business Journal | July 23, 2018 | wbjournal.com The development of affordable housing in the region has spiked, as supply still trails demand F O C U S R E S I D E N T I A L R E A L E S T A T E Central Mass. AFFORDING BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor M etroWest towns like Boxborough, Hop- kinton, Southborough and Sudbury might never be considered exactly affordable – especially not these days, with Hopkinton the cheapest among those four with median home prices this year of $635,000. But those towns are leading the way in MetroWest and much of the rest of the state in adding new housing units subsidized to be affordable for a typical working family. In these communities and across Central Massachusetts, the rate of new subsidized housing units has sped up as the housing market has remained tight, outpacing the state average. Of the more than 3,000 deed-restricted affordable housing units added in Cen- tral Massachusetts in the past decade, nine out of 10 have hit the market in the past three years. Yet, lack of affordable housing remains an issue, as only 16 percent of Central Massachusetts communities have at least 10 percent of their housing stock classi- fied as affordable. is lack of affordable housing comes as the rental vacancy rate remains below acceptable levels and housing prices continue to rise. "It's great to be the world center for life sciences, it's fantastic," said State Rep. Carmine Gentile (D-Sudbury), who serves on the state's Joint Committee on Housing. "Massachusetts is a great place for business now, and a great place to live, but the lack of housing is really starting to cause problems." Controlling affordable developments Some cities and towns have changed zoning to better accommodate develop- Littleton Town Administrator Keith Bergman said the town has been proactive in allowing more residential development. Ted Tye, a managing partner with builder National Development, outside Avenu, a 164-unit senior housing development in Natick. One-tenth of the units will be restricted for affordability. PHOTO/EDD COTE