May 2026 Massachusetts Housing Report

May produced the most competitive conditions Greater Boston saw all year.

Sellers received 103.0% of original list price in Middlesex County — three percent above asking, on average, across 763 sales. Essex reached 102.4%, Norfolk 102.7%. And Worcester pending sales surged 43.9%.

Statewide, 3,463 single-family homes closed across all fourteen counties, the year's highest monthly total to that point.

The short version

• 103.0% of original list price in Middlesex — the year's peak
• Worcester pending sales up 43.9%, the largest jump of 2026
• Essex median reached $807,000, up 4.1%
• Homes sold in 28 to 39 days, the fastest of the year so far
• Closed sales still down in four of five counties

What happened across the region

The divergence that defined April widened in May. Closed sales fell in Essex (−14.7%), Middlesex (−6.6%), Norfolk (−17.0%) and Worcester (−10.0%). Only Suffolk rose, by 2.1%.

Everything measuring current conditions moved the other way. Pending sales rose in all five counties — 43.9% in Worcester, 19.6% in Essex, 16.4% in Suffolk. Days on market fell to 28 in Middlesex and 31 in Essex, the fastest readings of the year to that point. And all five counties went above asking.

That combination — falling closings, surging pendings, rising prices, above-asking outcomes — describes a market where the constraint is entirely on the supply side. Buyers were there. Homes were not, and the ones that appeared were bid up.

Months supply reached 2.0 to 2.8, the loosest reading to that point in the year, yet conditions were the tightest. Both are true: more homes were available than in February, and more buyers were chasing each one.

County by county

Essex County closed 349 sales, down 14.7%, at a median of $807,000, up 4.1% — its first reading above $800,000. Homes sold in 31 days at 102.4% of original list. Pending sales rose 19.6% to 568 and new listings rose 5.6%.

Middlesex County closed 763 sales, down 6.6%, at a median of $930,000, down 0.9%. The competitive numbers were the story: 103.0% of original list price and 28 days to sale, both the region's best. Pending sales rose 14.7% to 1,165.

Norfolk County closed 367 sales, down 17.0%, at a median of $870,000, up 2.1%. Homes sold in 30 days at 102.7% of original list. Inventory fell 14.1% to 756 homes — the sharpest contraction in the region that month.

Suffolk County was the only county with rising sales: 97 single-family closings, up 2.1%, at a median of $845,000, up 5.2%. New listings rose 17.9%. Suffolk condos reached a median of $765,000 on 393 sales.

Worcester County closed 475 sales, down 10.0%, at a median of $522,000, down 0.6%. Its 43.9% surge in pending sales to 832 was the single largest forward indicator of the year anywhere in the region — and it converted in the months that followed.

What this means if you're buying

May was the hardest month of 2026 to buy a house in Greater Boston. Homes sold in under a month in two counties and above asking in all five. Inventory was higher than in February and it made no difference, because demand rose faster than supply did.

Worcester remained the value case at a $522,000 median — roughly $408,000 below Middlesex — but its 43.9% jump in pending sales says other buyers had reached the same conclusion.

The condo market was the genuine alternative. Essex condos at a median of $475,000, down 1.0%, and Worcester condos at $380,000, down 6.1%, were moving toward buyers while the house market moved away.

What this means if you're selling

If you had a house on the market in Greater Boston in May, you had the strongest conditions of the year: above asking in all five counties, under a month to sell in two, and buyer demand rising in all five.

The caution worth holding is that days on market, while fast in absolute terms, were up year over year in four of five counties — Essex 31 days against 28, Middlesex 28 against 26. Fast in 2026 was slower than fast in 2025. The market rewarded correct pricing rather than ambitious pricing, even at its peak.

About this data

Figures are from the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® Local Market Update for May 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, and Massachusetts figures will read higher for the same market conditions. "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.