Ocean views, rural peace: The Massachusetts communities where home prices have jumped the most
If living near the ocean sounds appealing to you, you’re not alone: Home prices in coastal areas of Massachusetts continue to trend upward, data show.
Communities on the Cape and Islands and along the North and South shores dominate the list of places where median sales prices for single-family homes have increased the most, according to data from The Warren Group, a real estate information company. Eleven of the 20 spots with the sharpest growth in prices between 2020 and 2025 are along the coast, when looking at places with 25 or more sales last year.
Provincetown led the pack, with the median home price jumping nearly 95 percent during that time to $2.1 million. Elsewhere on the Cape, even Dennis saw its more modest median price rise 68.3 percent to $690,000.
Rowley, which encompasses sections of saltwater marsh and some of the beaches of Plum Island, and made the 2026 list of the Top Spots to Live in Greater Boston, is also among that waterfront pack. The median home price there last year was 73.1 percent higher than in 2020, with much of that increase coming in 2025 alone.
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“The values have skyrocketed,” says John McCarthy, a real estate agent who has lived in Rowley for more than 25 years. “We just don’t have enough homes for sale to satisfy the buyer demand.”
Also attractive was Western Massachusetts, with its overall lower housing costs and more rural tranquility. The Berkshires town of Lee had a median home price of $440,000 in 2025, a 73.2 percent jump from 2020. Adams, in the northwestern corner of the state, and the Pioneer Valley college towns of South Hadley and Northampton also experienced significant increases.
“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 real estate agent. “It’s the whole Berkshire lifestyle.”
With uncertainty prevailing in the housing market, it is no surprise that the median home price in more places is crossing into seven-figure territory. Added to that list last year were desirable suburbs north of Boston such as Boxford, Lynnfield, and West Newbury.
Every community in Massachusetts has seen home prices go up — by over 30 percent in most places — from 2020 to 2025.
However, the numbers from the last year alone have a different story to tell. The median sales prices dropped in 62 of the communities we looked at and stayed flat in another 10.
Prices edged down in suburbs such as North Reading and Acton; in urban areas such as East Boston; and in communities on both the higher (Lincoln) and lower (North Adams) ends of the budget spectrum. Nantucket saw a drop of 6.9 percent, though that still leaves the median price at $2.6 million (a sum that would buy about 2,000 square feet not particularly close to the beach, according to current listings).
Whether this is a harbinger of falling markets in the months and years ahead is an open question, say real estate experts.
Chen Zhao, head of economics research at real estate company Redfin, says the price drops likely show a market finding its way to a new normal after years of stunning, soaring prices. But it remains to be seen what influence slow job growth and the Iran war will have on the economy and housing prices moving forward. “We’re really at this inflection point,” Zhao says.
Using the interactive map, find out how much median prices have changed in your community, or if you’re a potential buyer, the place you’d love to call home.
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Sarah Shemkus is a frequent contributor to the Globe Magazine. Additional research by Jon Gorey. Send comments to [email protected].
Andrew Nguyen can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on BlueSky at onlyandrewn.
