Welcome to Tuesday.

• Housing gets farther out of reach, and where Mass. college students lag behind.

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Today’s newsletter is 1,091 words — a 4-minute read.

A homebuyer needs to earn at least $181,000 a year to be able to comfortably afford a single-family home — and a lower-priced one at that — in Greater Boston, a new Boston Indicators report states.

Why it matters: Homeownership remains out of reach for Greater Boston residents, especially Black and Latino residents, even as home sale prices soften, per the 2026 Greater Boston Housing Report Card.

Catch up quick: Demand has outpaced housing supply for decades in Massachusetts, but home sale prices have increased on pace with (and sometimes outpacing) inflation.

• Those increases, plus increased interest rates, mean home prices are just starting to dip slightly even as the region's population growth and economy slow down.

By the numbers: In 2021, interest rates were 3% and the median cost of a single-family home in a "low-priced town" was $553,500, per the report.

• Some 188,000 renters in Greater Boston earned enough to own a home in that scenario ($124,000 or more).
• Today, interest rates have more than doubled and the median for that home is $600,000.
• Now just 119,000 renters earn enough to afford a home ($181,000 or more).

Threat level: The bottom tier of the housing market has seen the sharpest increases since 2019.

• That has made the market even less accessible for first-time homebuyers, the report states.

Between the lines: White and Asian American and Pacific Islander renters are even more likely to have the means to afford a single-family home in 2026, even with down payment assistance programs.

• 21% of white and AAPI renters each earn enough, followed by 14% of renters identifying as "Other" and 9% of Black and Hispanic renters each.
• White and AAPI renters are also more likely to get financial help from family to make a larger down payment and reduce their monthly bills "because wealth is distributed so unevenly by race."

Zoom out: Greater Boston not only has some of the highest median home sale prices, but also the third-highest rents among the 25 largest metro areas.

• Market-rate rents reached $3,074 in August, behind only New York City ($3,616) and San Francisco ($3,409), per the report, which cites Zillow data.

Tell a would-be homeowner

The Wu administration proposed easing some of its affordable housing fees and requirements for developers, whether they're building large-scale commercial projects or condominiums.

The big picture: The proposed zoning changes aim to shrink cost burdens that have deterred developers from building in Boston, but stop short of granting the sector's demands of lowering its affordable housing requirements altogether.

How it works: Boston requires developers building multifamily housing with seven units or more to set aside 17% of units for affordable housing.

• Those who opt out have to pay into the state's affordable housing fund, called the Inclusionary Development Fund (IDF), as do the developers behind large-scale commercial projects like labs.
• Residential developers could also build affordable housing off-site, but those must be within a half-mile radius of the original project.

Driving the news: Housing officials yesterday proposed amending the zoning code to spread out the IDF payments across seven installments instead of two, reversing a 2022 city zoning change.

• The city also proposed lowering buyout fees for condo projects, from covering 75% of the difference between market-rate and affordable unit prices to 50% of the difference.
• The plan would also nix the half-mile radius for off-site affordable housing and exempt buildings with under 10 units.

What they're saying: Mayor Michelle Wu said in a statement that the proposal offers "targeted adjustments to help projects move forward and create more affordability."

The Wu administration also proposes a one-year freeze on commercial linkage fees, the payments that the developers behind large-scale projects make to support affordable housing and job training.

Go deeper

🐘 MassGOP chair Amy Carnevale said she won't seek reelection in January. (State House News Service)

• One Republican, treasurer candidate Elizabeth Dionne, has thrown her hat in the ring.

A Nahant town employee went on leave Monday over "financial irregularities" related to their volunteer work at a local elementary school, but the town didn't name the employee. (Globe)

Nine Mass. municipalities, including Chelsea, spent funds from the Mass. Gaming Commission's Community Mitigation Fund on automated license plate readers. (WBUR)

There is no Nvidia — nor an AI boom as we know it — without Jensen Huang: He has reassured jittery markets with his words, bankrolled a trillion-dollar buildout and put economies on his shoulders.

• Now, the world wonders if he can save himself.

Why it matters: Global markets must confront that the AI ecosystem's first "too big to fail" executive is suddenly vulnerable, and there is no backup plan if he steps down.

Catch up quick: Nvidia's board launched an independent probe after he admitted to having a relationship with a woman named Alice Huang, an alleged Chinese operative.

• Nvidia's board expressed confidence in his leadership and said it had no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised.

Keep reading: 5 questions looming over the AI boom

👋 Tyler here, an Axios Local editor from Ohio and longtime "Love is Blind" fan.

A confession: I've never visited Boston — I sure hope to someday — but figured Season 11 would give me a proper taste.

• That, or at least a glimpse into your lovely city's single life.

Hoo boy. That it has. (No major spoilers ahead!)

The intrigue: The Boston cast is full of occupations straight out of an HGTV meme — yacht captain, beekeeper, wine sales consultant and a cornhole entrepreneur who insists business is booming.

Yes, but: It's also plenty full of "Oh, that's why you're single" types.

• There's the baseball coach who calls astrology satanic and has to clarify he's OK with having a wife who works.
• And the Shane Gillis lover who openly fantasizes about beating up random Whole Foods shoppers.

As an outsider, the women feel more befitting the New England stereotype — well-educated, well-spoken, tough.

• One, however, admits to hiring a pet communicator to speak to her dogs, which makes me think Massachusetts' income tax could use a steep hike.

Tell a single friend

Deehan needs to stop getting suckered in by seasonal latte hype.

Steph has accepted their fate as a forever renter.

This newsletter was edited by Jeff Weiner.