WBZ News Radio 1030 Bill Marcus

A Boston city councilor wants a transfer tax that could create more affordable housing. City Councilor Lydia Edwards introduced a bill that would place a fee, up to 25 percent, on property re-sold for profit twice within two years, and a 6 percent tax on residential sales over $2 million, according to the Boston Globe.

Edwards told WBZ NewsRadio1030’s Bill Marcus that the transfer tax would fund residential housing.

“We need money to build affordable units. We need to generate those fees, and we need to generate that income somehow,” Edwards said.

But, Tamara Small, the CEO at NAIOP Massachusetts — the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, said a new tax will slow development if the housing market softens. She said the buyer, not the seller, would pay the difference.

“We would certainly not be in support of the proposal. Transfer taxes, often times, end up driving up the cost of housing,” Small said. “There’s not a silver bullet to this issue. I think it’s going to be a combination of the public and private sector working together.”