This new study, by researchers at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, looked beyond Boston to include 13 other cities and towns and found, across the board, that there are not enough homes available for larger families. Its becoming a mounting problem for the regions economy and workforce, said study author Tim Reardon, the councils director of data services.

Theres a growing body of evidence that this is discouraging people from coming [to Greater Boston], whether theyre younger people who dont want to live with roommates or families who are baffled at the notion of a $700,000 starter home, Reardon said. Its very worrisome.

In the area the group studied it included dense sections of Boston and Cambridge, inner-ring urban communities such as Everett and Quincy, and more suburban towns like Milton and Winthrop the council found 221,000 houses and apartments with three or more bedrooms. Of those, about 78,000 are home to families with children. About the same number house just one or two people, many of them homeowners older than 55.

Among rental properties, about 25,000 more than one-third are occupied by groups of roommates. Taken together, people with such living arrangements have more spending power than one or two working parents.

The findings, Reardon said, highlight a mismatch in the regions housing supply which exacerbates home prices and rents that are among the highest in the nation. In many suburban towns, older people and couples remain in single-family houses where they once raised children, while in urban neighborhoods, three-decker apartments originally built for families often are filled by groups of younger people.

It stems from the lack of options for those two very different demographics, Reardon said. In many communities theres simply very few smaller units for seniors to downsize into that are both attractive and affordable. On the flip side theres this big need from millennials for one-bedrooms, and there are quite a few being built. But many people are priced out of those.

Thats why policy makers such as Reardon suggest the shortage of three-bedrooms can be solved at least as much by adding modestly-priced smaller units studios and one-bedrooms as it can by building a surplus of larger apartments.

Thats largely the tack the Walsh administration has taken in Boston, where a growing number of developers are experimenting with micro-units and so-called co-living buildings, which city officials have encouraged as a way to relieve pressure on Bostons large stock of three-decker apartments built a century ago, typically with three bedrooms.

There are enough large units to accommodate the families we have in Boston. The problem is theyre not all available, said the citys housing chief, Sheila Dillon. "Thats why weve been very intentional in trying to build smaller units, units for the elderly, and dorms, to free up that valuable family housing stock.

Boston has built larger units, too. Of the 33,000 homes permitted since 2010, Dillon said, 45 percent have been for two or more bedrooms. In most projects, she said, the city pushes developers to include a mix of unit sizes. And its trying to find ways to finance more senior housing, in particular, to provide options for older residents who might want to move out of a large home theyve lived in for decades.

We want communities that are integrated. We want families living with seniors and with young people around, she said. We dont want these buildings that are all singles."

Another way to mix things up is by encouraging so-called accessory dwelling units, which are converted basement and backyard apartments that can increase the housing supply suitable for either seniors or students without new construction. More municipalities, both urban and suburban, are experimenting with zoning for these sorts of apartments, Reardon said, and that can also free up larger units for families. But, he said, some cities and towns are writing onerous rules for accessory dwelling units that drive up the costs.

The key, Reardon said, is flexibility. Just as three-deckers that were built for families a century ago today house groups of twentysomethings, whatever is built today will probably serve different needs over time. Building just for seniors or students, or even for families with children, could be something the region comes to regret in a decade or two.

Theres risk in saying housing is going to be built only for one demographic," Reardon said. That prevents the kind of fluidity we need to make this region affordable for everyone.

Tim Logan can be reached at timothy.logan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @bytimlogan.

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Few families occupy Greater Bostons multi-bedroom homes, report says - The Boston Globe