New UMass Amherst/WCVB Poll Examines Bay State Residents’ Views on Housing Crisis and ‘State of the State’

A new University of Massachusetts Amherst/WCVB Poll has found that Massachusetts residents view the housing crisis as the most important issue currently facing the Bay State, with 75% of those who tried to buy a new home and 83% who tried to rent a new home in the past year saying that they encountered challenges during the process.

The poll of 700 respondents, which was conducted May 17-30 and gauged views of Gov. Maura Healey’s performance and the Democratic Party’s domination of state government, as well, also found overwhelming support for a wide range of policies to address the housing crisis.

“As the commonwealth experiences record high average home prices, escalating rents and shortages of both available homes and rental units, it is no surprise that housing is not only viewed as the most important problem facing the state but the one issue that residents want Gov. Healey and the state Legislature to tackle,” says Tatishe Nteta, provost professor of political science at UMass Amherst and director of the poll. “With unified government now a reality in the Bay State and overwhelming support across demographic and political groups for the governor and Legislature to deal with this crisis, voters likely expect movement on this issue as soon as possible. While failure to address the housing conundrum may not have electoral consequences in the 2024 election, if the problem persists, expect the housing crisis to be used as the rationale to ‘throw the bums out’ in 2026 and beyond.”