April 2026 Massachusetts Housing Report

April was the month Greater Boston sellers started getting more than they asked for.

Homes sold at 102.4% of original list price in Middlesex County, 101.7% in Essex and 101.6% in Norfolk — above asking, on average, and the broadest the region had been above that line in 2026. Norfolk's median jumped 14.0% to $895,000.

Statewide, 2,526 single-family homes closed across all fourteen counties.

The short version

• Above asking across the region — 102.4% in Middlesex, 101.7% in Essex
• Norfolk median up 14.0% to $895,000, the year's largest county gain
• Worcester median up 12.5% to $540,000
• Worcester inventory rose 8.0% — the first county to add supply in 2026
• Closed sales still falling in four of five counties

What happened across the region

The gap between what the closing figures said and what the market was doing reached its widest point in April.

Sales fell in Essex (−6.8%), Middlesex (−13.5%), Suffolk (−8.6%) and Worcester (−18.3%). Only Norfolk rose, and only 4.1%. Read alone, that is a weak month.

Read alongside anything else, it isn't. Pending sales rose in all five counties. Prices rose in four of five, two of them by double digits. And sellers received above original list price in four counties. Closed sales in April reflect February contracts — the month inventory bottomed — so the weakness describes conditions two months gone.

Worcester produced the region's first genuine supply increase of the year: inventory up 8.0%, new listings up 21.5%. Everywhere else inventory was still falling, though more gently than in February.

Months supply moved up to between 1.5 and 2.1 — still less than half of what a balanced market carries, but the loosest the region had been in 2026.

County by county

Essex County closed 272 sales, down 6.8%, at a median of $745,000, up 1.1%. Homes sold in 36 days at 101.7% of original list. Inventory fell 7.7% — a much gentler decline than February's 28.4%. Essex condos rose 12.5% on price to a median of $510,000.

Middlesex County closed 544 sales, down 13.5%, at a median of $938,700, up 4.3% — the highest county median recorded in the region in 2026. Sellers received 102.4% of original list price, the region's strongest. Pending sales rose 11.8% to 989.

Norfolk County delivered the month's standout: 302 closings, up 4.1%, at a median of $895,000, up 14.0% from $785,000. It was the only county in the region with rising sales and the largest single price gain of the year. Norfolk condos also jumped 15.9% to a median of $600,000.

Suffolk County recorded 53 single-family closings, down 8.6%, at a median of $765,000, down 18.4% — a swing that reflects sample size more than market direction. The condo market told a steadier story: 327 sales at a median of $775,000, up 3.7%.

Worcester County closed 343 sales, down 18.3%, at a median of $540,000, up 12.5%. It was the first county to add inventory — up 8.0% to 977 homes — on new listings up 21.5%. Pending sales rose 13.4%.

What this means if you're buying

April was the month the market turned decisively against buyers on price while improving slightly on choice. Above-asking outcomes in four counties, medians up double digits in two, and months supply still at or below 2.1 everywhere.

Worcester is the county to watch. It added supply faster than anywhere else — new listings up 21.5%, inventory up 8.0% — while remaining the region's most affordable market at $540,000. That combination did not exist anywhere else in Greater Boston in April.

If you were bidding in Middlesex, the arithmetic was blunt: a $938,700 median and sellers getting 2.4% above their original asking price.

What this means if you're selling

This was the best month of the year so far to have a house on the market in Greater Boston. Above asking in four counties, double-digit price gains in two, and buyers competing for a supply that had barely begun to recover.

The one number arguing for urgency was Worcester's: inventory up 8.0% and new listings up 21.5%. Where supply arrives, leverage moves. Worcester sellers had a narrower window than the figures elsewhere suggested.

About this data

Figures are from the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® Local Market Update for April 2026, drawn from the Berkshire County MLS, Cape Cod & Islands Association of REALTORS®, Inc. and MLS Property Information Network, Inc. Data provided by MAR, © ShowingTime Plus, LLC.

"Percent of Original List Price Received" divides sale price by the original list price, which differs from the New Hampshire reports' use of the most recent list price — the two are not directly comparable. "Median sales price" does not account for seller concessions.

MAR notes that activity for one month can look extreme in smaller counties due to sample size. Suffolk County single-family figures rest on a small number of transactions, and its 18.4% median decline should be read in that light.