Winners and Losers from 2023

Average year over year value growth for single family and condominium homes by town/area in Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, and Suffolk Counties. 2022-2023 edition.

When the rates skyrocketed in mid-2022, the assumption was that real estate values would soften. On the contrary, all four counties we looked at saw overall increases in value for single family and condominium homes. But for a handful of towns in each county that did experience some loss, most areas appreciated despite the destabilizing interest rate hikes.

For these charts, we took year over year sale price averages, combining single family & condo sales as reported to MLS.

From our trove of MLS data, we created these charts that show value growth between 2023 and 2022. Coming soon, we’ll publish a comparative chart of 2023 sale price values, broken down by property type & town.

Essex values increased by just under 5.5% over all from 2022 to 2023.

In 2023, Middlesex County increased on the whole by just over 6% from 2022.

Norfolk’s overall single fam and condo values rose by just 2% between 2022 and 2023.

Of the four counties we looked at, Suffolk’s overall single family and condo value rose by more than 11%.

Of course these are pretty general declarations so, if you’re considering making an investment in any of these areas, we’d suggest you drill down more specifically into your area of interest. For example, in Cambridge singles and condos, combined, increased by 1%. But Cambridge single families jumped in value by more than 11% in 2023, whereas the condo values showed a loss of 1% from 2022. And even within a given town or area, there are many variables, including timing, that can affect the value.

It’s a long way of saying that it’s important to do your homework when you’re preparing to make a a real estate investment. Better yet, you can copy our homework! We’re happy to share it.

Happy 2024!