A report prepared by the Center for Urban and Regional Policy (CURP) at Northeastern University and  the Citizen's Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) for the Boston Foundation collected and analyzed data on housing prices, rents, and production in the Greater Boston region since 1999. Among the findings:

An faster increase in households than new housing production led to a median rent increase of 39% for existing renters from 1995 to 2000, while the median sales price of a single-family home increased by 50.3% from 1998 to 2001.
State spending on housing programs as a percentage of the total state budget was at 0.7% in 2001, a decline from 2.9% in 1989.

The report covers 161 cities and towns in the Massachusetts portion of the Boston, Brockton, Lawrence, and Lowell Metropolitan Statistical Areas as determined by CURP and CHAPA to cover the Greater Boston region, with a section devoted exclusively to the Boston Metropolitan Statistical area.

Click here to view the Greater Boston Housing Report Card.