November home sales regulate while prices soar 13% in Worcester

Images | Courtesy of Google Maps Houses on West Boylston Street in Worcester

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By Katherine Hamilton

While the region’s single-family sales are starting to plateau, prices are still rising sharply, up 13% in Worcester and almost 12% countywide, according to Tuesday's report from the Peabody-based research firm the Warren Group.

The city of Worcester is slightly above the state average in both sales and prices, as the city’s housing market remains particularly strong. Last month, 123 houses sold in Worcester, which is five fewer than in November 2020. Year-to-date, 1,237 houses have sold in total, which a 6.8% increase.

While the number of sales is starting to plateau a bit, prices continue to soar, with a 13.1% growth in the median sale price from last year. The average, year-to-date price of a single-family home in Worcester is now $335,500, a 17.7% uptick from last year’s average.

Worcester city’s growth is greater than both the countywide and statewide averages, although the city’s median house price is still lower.

A Worcester county home sells for $375,000 on average, a 15.4% increase from last year. Year-to-date, there have been 8,030 home sales in the county, which is slightly higher than the previous year. The November sales decreased 5.7% from 2020 to 2021.

Both the city and the county have greater increases in sale prices and smaller decreases in sales numbers than the state.

Massachusetts’ average sale price increased 14.6% year-to-date and 10.9% from November 2020 to last month. These are still significant price rises, but slightly lower than the county and city figures. The average price of a home in the state is $510,000.

In the last 12 months, 56,538 houses have sold in the state, 2.3% higher than the previous year. November alone had 5,366 sales, 453 or 7.8% fewer than November 2020.