Massachusetts permitted only 14,338 new “homes” in 2024
Through three quarters of 2025, home sales in Massachusetts are up about 3% over last year but market analysts said this week that they foresee a “slower, more thoughtful” market as fall starts to slide into winter.
There were 31,980 single-family home sales this year through September, The Warren Group reported, about 1,000 more homes than were sold by the same checkpoint in 2024. September sales helped that metric — the month’s 3,769 transactions represented an 8% increase over last September.
The median sale price of the homes sold this year is also up 3% compared to a year ago, having climbed from $619,450 for the first three quarters of 2024 to $640,000 year-to-date for 2025. September’s median sale price was $625,000, up 4.2%, The Warren Group said.
“The September housing market showed continued signs of shifting dynamics,” Cassidy Norton, associate publisher of The Warren Group, said. “A recent mortgage rate cut, increased inventory, and the approaching end of the year are all contributing to a slower, more thoughtful market. Anticipated additional rate cuts will continue the trend.”
As of Oct. 16, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.27%, according to data from Freddie Mac compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. That’s down from an average of just under 7% at the start of the year and essentially equal to the lowest average rate since last October.
Reuters reported this week that financial markets “expect” that the Federal Reserve Bank will lower its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point when it meets next week, dropping it to the 3.75% to 4% range. But with the federal government in a shutdown since the start of the month, much of the typical economic and labor market data released by the feds is not updated.
Gov. Maura Healey signed a housing law a year ago expecting it will help the Bay State chip away at a housing shortage estimated to be of more than 200,000 units by 2030. But a group of real estate interests last week reminded mayors that Massachusetts permitted just 14,338 new “homes” in 2024, which they said was one of the lowest per capita rates in the country.
Experts said they do not think the part of that law that took effect last week, dealing with home inspections and the home bidding process, will have a marked effect on fall sales.
