This is another example of definition vs. connotation. If you include all four dictionary definitions, it isn't always a negative.
Taken from a dictionary:
1: suggestive or characteristic of a home
2: being something familiar with which one is at home <satisfy themselves with houses, furniture, books and clothes that were worn and homely and friendly to the touch — Brendan Gill>
3 a: unaffectedly natural : simple b: not elaborate or complex <homely virtues>
4: plain or unattractive in appearance
Technically, it can mean "homey" in the sense of relating to the home. However, today it very rarely gets used in the first two senses and is almost always intended as an unflattering description. Give a while and eventually the first few uses will probably be marked as archaic or be left out altogether.