Housing prices kept climbing along the Massachusetts coast, with communities on the Cape and Islands and the North and South shores dominating the list of places where single-family home prices rose the most between 2020 and 2025.
Eleven of the 20 spots with the sharpest growth among communities that recorded at least 25 sales last year were coastal, according to data from The Warren Group. Provincetown led the pack, with its median home price jumping nearly 95 percent from 2020 to 2025 to $2.1 million. Dennis followed with a 68.3 percent increase to $690,000, while Lee’s median home price rose 73.2 percent to $440,000. Rowley’s median home price last year was 73.1 percent higher than in 2020, and much of that increase came in 2025 alone.
The gains were not limited to the shoreline. Adams, South Hadley and Northampton also posted sizable increases, and Boxford, Lynnfield and West Newbury joined the list of Massachusetts communities where median home prices crossed into seven-figure territory last year. John McCarthy said the values have skyrocketed, and he pointed to a simple reason: there still are not enough homes for sale to satisfy buyer demand.
That broad rise is the backdrop to a state market that has been moving up almost everywhere. Every community in Massachusetts saw home prices increase from 2020 to 2025, by more than 30 percent in most places. But the latest year also showed a softer edge in some markets, with median sales prices dropping in 62 of the communities studied and staying flat in another 10.
Nantucket was one of the clearest examples of that cooling. Its median home price fell 6.9 percent last year to $2.6 million, even as it remained far above the rest of the state. North Reading, Acton, East Boston, Lincoln and North Adams also edged down. Chen Zhao said the price declines likely reflect a market finding its way to a new normal after years of soaring prices. That leaves Massachusetts in a split picture: steep long-term gains, but more signs that the pace may be slowing in some places. Anthony Caropreso said the Berkshire region still offers skiing, foliage, recreation and culture — “the whole Berkshire lifestyle” — which helps explain why demand has stayed strong there even as parts of the market ease.
For buyers, the numbers show a state where affordability has already moved sharply out of reach in many places, and where the next phase may be less about another surge than about whether supply can finally catch up.