Interest-rate relief leads to rise in Central Mass. home sales, as median price tops $400K in Fitchburg

Two, two-story single-family homes with a tree and two driveways between them

Image | Courtesy of Google Maps Two homes in the Tatnuck neighborhood of Worcester

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Single-family home sales in Central Massachusetts saw an uptick in October, but prospective homeowners are still dealing with limited inventory and a consistent upward trend in prices.

Total sales in October climbed in Central Massachusetts compared to October 2023, with sales increasing 8.5% in Worcester County and 14.7% in Middlesex County, according to data released Tuesday by The Warren Group, a Peabody-based real estate research firm.

The median sales price increased in Worcester County from $450,000 to $460,000, a 2.2% increase, while Middlesex County saw its median price rise from $749,950 to $775,000, a 3.3% increase.

The city of Worcester saw a smaller median price increase, ticking up 0.6% from $422,500 to $425,000, as the city saw 94 sales in October compared to 86 in October 2023.

Fitchburg saw 27 sales compared to 24, as the median price increased 7.8% from $371,000 to $400,000. Leominster bucked the trend of increasing sales, with 21 compared to 22 last October, as its median price rose 9.1% from $440,000 to $480,000.

Two prominent Middlesex County communities saw spikes in total sales, with Framingham witnessing 34 sales compared to 26 and Natick seeing 22 sales compared to 15. The median price in Framingham rose 1.9% from $634,000 to $646,000, while Natick countered the trend of median price increases, with its price falling 5% from $850,000 to $807,500.

Statewide, Massachusetts saw 3,926 sales in October, an 11.6% climb, as the median price of a single-family home climbed from $575,570 to $615,000, a 6.9% increase.

While inventory remains low and prices continue to climb, lower interest rates may explain the increase in transactions, said Cassidy Norton, associate publisher and media relations director of The Warren Group.

“The average mortgage interest rate dropped to the lowest level so far this year in September; homes put under agreement then closed in October,” Norton said in a Tuesday press release accompanying the data. “This likely contributed to the rise in the number of sales, as buyers took advantage of the brief relief in interest rates. This combination of constrained supply and strong demand continues to push prices higher, even as buyers navigate affordability challenges.”

With the October sales increase, Massachusetts is now on track to slightly eclipse the total sales seen in 2023; there had been a total of 34,226 sales through the end of October, a 1.6% increase from the year-to-date total for the first 10 months of last year.

Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.