Martha’s Vineyard, MA, has long been a high-priced enclave, with the median home listing price lingering around a staggering $2,293,412.
This sought-after area is marked by strong demand and limited inventory, pushing home prices up. A significant portion of properties are used only seasonally, further constraining the year-round housing supply and adding upward pressure on prices.
As home prices climb, many longtime residents are being squeezed out, and a local teenager is drawing attention to the worsening affordability crunch.
Gabriel Bengtsson, a 16-year-old junior at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, recently produced a documentary called “Priced Out of Paradise” examining the housing challenges on Martha’s Vineyard.
“I made the documentary during my semester-long class called the Capstone Project, where students could choose a subject that interested them enough to research it in depth,” Bengtsson tells Realtor.com®.
Bengtsson says there were two things that made him focus on this important issue.
“One of my good friends suddenly moved off-island because his family couldn’t find housing,” he explains. “It was especially hard because he couldn’t even give us much notice before he left. And some of my other friends had to move off-island as well for the same reason, even when their parents had good or stable jobs.”
When Bengtsson enrolled in the Capstone class in September, housing was already top of mind. At the time, his family was transitioning back into their home after renting it out for the summer to help offset expenses. “We do the ‘island shuffle,’ moving into my grandparents’ house while ours is rented,” he says.
Bengtsson’s grandparents moved to Martha’s Vineyard from Boston in the 1970s to raise their four kids. “I’m half-Danish, and was born in Copenhagen,” he says. “We moved here when I was 5, because my mother is from the Vineyard and wanted us to be closer to extended family.”
Despite the housing challenges there, Bengtsson says it remains a beautiful, close-knit place to grow up.
Still, one morning, he saw something that stayed with him.
“If you stand at the Vineyard Haven dock waiting for the boat to unload, you’ll see almost like an army of workers commuting on the early morning boats,” he says. “You see it again once the school and workday ends.”
Bengtsson says seeing that made him realize what he wanted his project to focus on. “The housing problem is central to the community,” he says, “and the year-rounders are who help make this island so special.”
Bringing the housing struggle to the screen
As part of his research, Bengtsson reviewed numerous articles from the Island Housing Trust and conducted interviews with experts and local residents impacted by the issue.
“I learned how difficult it can really be to live here year-round, and it gave me a sense of empathy to feel for others and to see from other perspectives,” he says.
He interviewed classmate Kayo De Oliveria, who’d navigated housing insecurity.
“He really helped by sharing his own story of how the lack of affordable housing personally affected his family,” Bengtsson says. “It’s hard to focus on doing well in school when you’re worried about where you’re going to sleep next winter.”
Bengtsson also interviewed his high school guidance counselor, Sheila McHugh Hazell.
“She had a classic experience of having to live in a friend’s un-winterized shack for a long time before she and her husband could afford their own home,” he says.
“She explained how much it affected her, like not being able to have friends over since there was no running water, and always traveling with her toothbrush since they did a lot of housesitting and dog-sitting just to get a break from their place.”
Bengtsson also interviewed executives of the Island Housing Trust and the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority to get their perspective on the issue.
“A major thing I learned was that there’s a significant gap between what people can afford and what is available,” says Bengtsson.
A recent study highlighted the housing affordability gap, showing what Islanders earning 150% of the area median income—about $168,500 annually—can afford versus the median home price. This gap ranges from $391,000 in Tisbury, MA, to more than $1.1 million in Aquinnah, MA.
This puts homeownership beyond the grasp of many local families, particularly in today’s difficult economic climate.
A topic that really hits home
Bengtsson shares that his family experienced housing affordability struggles firsthand, living with his grandparents for nine years while saving for their own home.
“I definitely think this is a topic that affects everyone on the island, whether you have to commute daily, or move every season,” he says. “Or maybe you’re lucky enough to have year-round housing, but that can’t be possible if you can’t get enough workers here to keep your business running.”
Bengtsson says that while the Vineyard seems like a really specialized place, housing instability is a challenge that touches people everywhere across the country. “I will keep advocating for this fight,” he vows.
He recently debuted his documentary, garnering a very positive reaction. “People commented on how it’s a really relevant subject on Martha’s Vineyard,” he says. “One woman even said she was going to forward the link of my presentation to an island housing board, to show how it’s not just adults who are worried and want to take action about the housing problem.”
Bengtsson says he hasn’t chosen a college major yet, but if he studies finance or law, he hopes that could one day allow him to make a meaningful impact on the housing crisis.
“I know it’s pretty difficult to change laws to require more affordable housing, but it’s so important,” he says.
MVRHS Principal Sean Mulvey told Realtor.com, “I couldn’t be more proud of Gabriel for taking on such an important issue. As Gabriel stated in his documentary, the housing crisis on Martha’s Vineyard isn’t just another headline, and I think he did a great job in capturing how it personally affects our students, families, and staff.”