MBTA Communities & Single-Family Homes: A Weekly Market Report Series

The MBTA Communities Act is creating a two-tier single-family market: walkable side-streets within overlays command 3–5% premiums and dual buyer pools (families + developers), while arterial-adjacent homes become developer land with weak family ROI. This series provides town-by-town heat maps and underwriting frameworks for five core suburbs.

Single-family home buyers evaluating properties inside or near MBTA overlay districts, investors tracking land value opportunities, homeowners watching how zoning changes affect their property values, and anyone trying to understand where the research says to go long vs. short on SFHs in upzoned areas.

• •Minneapolis upzoning research: SFHs in newly upzoned areas gained 3–5% value relative to similar homes outside
• •TOD studies show 2–32% price premiums for SFHs near transit, depending on walkability and service quality
• •MBTA overlays are surgical—only 50–100 acres per town—creating scarcity that amplifies land-value uplifts
• •The best plays: quiet side-streets 3–8 minutes from stations, not on arterials, with usable lots
• •Red zones: track-adjacent, commercial-facing, or arterial-fronting homes become developer territory