If residing close to the ocean sounds interesting to you, you’re not alone: Home costs in coastal areas of Massachusetts proceed to development upward, knowledge present.
Communities on the Cape and Islands and alongside the North and South shores dominate the listing of locations the place median gross sales costs for single-family houses have elevated essentially the most, in response to knowledge from The Warren Group, an actual property info firm. Eleven of the 20 spots with the sharpest development in costs between 2020 and 2025 are alongside the coast, when taking a look at locations with 25 or extra gross sales final 12 months.
Provincetown led the pack, with the median home price leaping almost 95 p.c throughout that point to $2.1 million. Elsewhere on the Cape, even Dennis noticed its extra modest median price rise 68.3 p.c to $690,000.
Rowley, which encompasses sections of saltwater marsh and among the seashores of Plum Island, and made the 2026 listing of the Top Spots to Live in Greater Boston, can also be amongst that waterfront pack. The median home price there final 12 months was 73.1 p.c greater than in 2020, with a lot of that enhance coming in 2025 alone.
“The values have skyrocketed,” says John McCarthy, an actual property agent who has lived in Rowley for greater than 25 years. “We just don’t have enough homes for sale to satisfy the buyer demand.”
Also enticing was Western Massachusetts, with its general decrease housing prices and extra rural tranquility. The Berkshires city of Lee had a median home price of $440,000 in 2025, a 73.2 p.c soar from 2020. Adams, within the northwestern nook of the state, and the Pioneer Valley faculty cities of South Hadley and Northampton additionally skilled important will increase.
“We have the Berkshire mountains for skiing in the winter. We have the wonderful foliage in the fall. We have all the recreation and culture,” says Anthony Caropreso, a Lee-based actual property agent. “It’s the whole Berkshire lifestyle.”
With uncertainty prevailing in the housing market, it’s no shock that the median home price in additional locations is crossing into seven-figure territory. Added to that listing final 12 months had been fascinating suburbs north of Boston equivalent to Boxford, Lynnfield, and West Newbury.
Every neighborhood in Massachusetts has seen home costs go up — by over 30 p.c in most locations — from 2020 to 2025.
However, the numbers from the final 12 months alone have a unique story to inform. The median gross sales costs dropped in 62 of the communities we checked out and stayed flat in one other 10.
Prices edged down in suburbs equivalent to North Reading and Acton; in city areas equivalent to East Boston; and in communities on each the upper (Lincoln) and decrease (North Adams) ends of the price range spectrum. Nantucket noticed a drop of 6.9 p.c, although that also leaves the median price at $2.6 million (a sum that may purchase about 2,000 sq. ft not significantly near the seashore, in response to present listings).
Whether it is a harbinger of falling markets within the months and years forward is an open query, say actual property consultants.
Chen Zhao, head of economics analysis at actual property firm Redfin, says the price drops doubtless present a market discovering its strategy to a brand new regular after years of gorgeous, hovering costs. But it stays to be seen what affect sluggish job development and the Iran conflict could have on the economic system and housing costs transferring ahead. “We’re really at this inflection point,” Zhao says.
Using the interactive map, learn the way a lot median costs have modified in your neighborhood, or in the event you’re a possible purchaser, the place you’d like to name home.
Explore the Top Spots to Live by area:
Sarah Shemkus is a frequent contributor to the Globe Magazine. Additional analysis by Jon Gorey. Send feedback to journal@globe.com.
Andrew Nguyen could be reached at andrew.nguyen@globe.com. Follow him on BlueSky at onlyandrewn.
