Dedham Sees Largest Drop In Homeownership In All Of MetroWest

DEDHAM, MA — Significantly less people own homes in Dedham compared to the start of the millenium. Dedham's homeownership numbers dropped from 80 percent in 2000 to 70 percent today, according to data released by the Foundation for MetroWest. The drop in homeownership is the largest in the MetroWest.

The median home value in Dedham is $524,249, according to Zillow and the the residential tax rates for 2020 are $13.72. Dedham is an example of the decreasing homeownership rates across Norfolk County. The Foundation for MetroWest data shows the cost of homeownership is increasing in Norfolk County as well, with a 4.5 ratio of home value to income.

Foundation for MetroWest built a website called Impact MetroWest with data highlighting trends happening in 33 towns and cities between Route 128 and Worcester. The data details everything from voter participation rates to car ownership and crime rates.

The data release is part of a larger project to highlight strengths and weaknesses in individual communities — and all the data is available to the public on the Impact MetroWest website. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito helped launch the site during an event in Natick on Wednesday morning.

In Norfolk County, the study looked at Bellingham, Dedham, Dover, Franklin, Medfield, Medway, Millis, Needham, Walpole, Wellesley and Westwood.

According to census data from 2014 to 2018, over 60 percent of Dedham's housing stock are single-family homes. The same data shows the majority of Dedham's housing stock, over 30 percent, was built in 1939 or earlier.

In the early 2000's, particularly in 2004 and 2006, Dedham issued more permits for buildings with five or more units than any other year. In 2004, 301 permits were issued and in 2006, 285 permits were issued. The latest data shows only 15 permits were issued in 2018, all of which were for single-family homes.