The Massachusetts housing market, by the numbers.
Median sale price, days on market, and what a traditional sale really costs a Massachusetts seller — every figure on this page comes from the source cited next to it.
- Median sale price: $688,000
- Median days on market: 21
- Typical selling costs: ~7.03% of the price
- Foreclosure timeline: 4 to 8 months
Planning a Massachusetts sale?
This page is a free educational snapshot — no signup, nothing to fill out.
The headline numbers.
Each figure comes from the source cited under it. Medians describe the middle of the Massachusetts market, not any specific house.
| Massachusetts metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | $688,000 | Redfin state market tracker, May 2026 |
| Median days on market | 21 days | Redfin state market tracker, May 2026 |
| Average agent commission | 5.57% (≈ $38,322) | Clever Feb 2026 survey (state avg) |
| Seller closing costs | 1% (≈ $6,880) | Redfin national 1-3% excl. commission, low end (transfer tax shown separately), May 2026 |
| Seller transfer tax | 0.46% (≈ $3,165) | HomeLight, Jan 2025 ($4.56/$1,000, seller pays) |
Data updated: September 2026
Selling the traditional way in Massachusetts: the math.
The same arithmetic an agent would run at your kitchen table, worked on the Massachusetts median sale price.
How to read this: on the $688,000 median sale, the traditional route leaves roughly $639,633 before loan payoff, repairs, and the holding costs (effective property tax ~1.23%/yr per the Tax Foundation, plus insurance and utilities) that stack up while you wait about 21 days on market. These are estimates worked on the Massachusetts median; your actual costs vary by county, property, and buyer.
The cost of waiting: Massachusetts's effective property-tax rate runs about 1.23% a year (Tax Foundation). Worked on the $688,000 median home, that's roughly $8,462 a year in property tax — call it $487 accrued across the 21-day (about 3-week) median wait for a traditional sale, before insurance and utilities, and on top of the selling costs above. The longer a Massachusetts listing sits past the median, the bigger that carrying cost grows.
The Massachusetts foreclosure clock.
Massachusetts uses a non-judicial foreclosure process, and a typical case runs 4 to 8 months — that window is how much real time an owner has to catch up, refinance, or sell.
How long it really takes: Roughly 7–9 months from default to auction in a typical uncontested case, often longer — federal rules (12 C.F.R. §1024.41) generally bar starting foreclosure until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent, then the 90-day cure period, the optional Land Court Servicemembers case, and §14 notice/publication follow (practitioner estimate). Note: the Land Court Servicemembers case most lenders file is NOT itself a foreclosure and is not a foreclosure defense — it only determines Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protections; receiving that complaint means foreclosure is being prepared, but the auction date is set separately.
Primary statute: G.L. c. 244 §35A. This is general information, not legal advice — confirm the specifics with a local attorney.
If you need to sell fast.
The numbers above describe the traditional route in Massachusetts: roughly 7.03% of the price in selling costs and about 21 days of waiting before a financed buyer even closes. When time is the real problem — a foreclosure date, back taxes, a move that can't wait — some owners trade part of the headline price for speed and certainty by selling as-is to a cash buyer.
Your cash option: You can request offers on Massachusetts houses sold as-is — no repairs, no commissions, no fees to you. Requesting offers is free, and you decide what happens next.
See what the Massachusetts numbers mean for your house.
Compare the traditional math above with a fast as-is sale — free tools, sourced data, and a timeline you control.
Selling fast in Massachusetts →