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Home prices break records in Mass., but R.I. feels the effects of an influx
A study ranked Massachusetts 46th in the nation for affordability based on sales price-to-income-ratios.
The Warren Group released its take on the Massachusetts housing market Tuesday, and the news for home buyers isn’t pretty. Again, they face the wrath of supply and demand, as the state’s limited inventory and unmet need give sellers the ultimate control.
Home sales increased 2.9 percent in 2024, and the median sales price for a single-family home of $615,000 was a record-breaker, the data analytics firm reported. With high interest rates, 7.04 percent as of Jan. 16, mortgage payments are on the rise while opportunities for first-time buyers shrink. These high mortgage rates also give current homeowners looking to trade up or downsize reason to remain on the sidelines suffering from “mortgage rate lock.”
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The state remains one of the least affordable in the county. A study by Zoocasa, a real estate marketplace, ranked Massachusetts 46th for affordability based on home price-to-income-ratios. Only Hawaii, California, Montana, and Washington, in that order, were worse. (Rhode Island came in 39th, Maine was 35th, New Hampshire was 30th, Vermont landed at 28th, and Connecticut ranked 21st.)
The Massachusetts median sales price for December alone ($600,000) soared well above the national median ($427,000), according to recent report from RE/Max. According to Redfin, the nation saw the smallest year-over-year uptick in home prices since 2015 (5.4 percent) and, after a spike in 2021, the rate of increase is returning to pre-pandemic levels.
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But not in Massachusetts.
The state saw a 7.9 percent increase in the median sales price overall in 2024, The Warren Group reported.
The Commonwealth’s high home prices have some buyers flocking to Rhode Island in search of affordability, but even properties there are becoming increasingly out of reach. In December, the Ocean State saw a 30.3 percent jump in home sales, the largest increase since 1999, according to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors. If the current pace at which homes are selling stays the same, and no new properties come on the market, the state’s inventory would be depleted in just over a month and a half. In a healthy market, there’s at least five months of inventory.
The state “remains in the grip of a seller’s market” despite a 6.8 percent increase in the number of listings, the association reported.
Here’s how those two markets fared in December:
Single-family home sales
| STATE | DEC. 2024 PRICE | % CHANGE FROM DEC. 2023 | % CHANGE IN NO. OF SALES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mass. | $600,000* | 11.1% | 16.1% |
| R.I. | $470,000 | 10.1% | 30.3% |
*Record-breaker for the month
So what does this mean for prospective buyers? Here’s a look at what single-family home prices are doing in a few communities along the Providence-Stoughton commuter rail line:
| CITY/TOWN | DEC. 2024 PRICE | % CHANGE FROM DEC. 2023 | NO. OF SALES | % CHANGE IN NO. OF SALES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Providence | $403,000 | 15.1% | 73 | 52.1% |
| Pawtucket, R.I. | $410,000 | 5.0% | 28 | 13.0% |
| Attleboro | $483,000 | 5.8% | 7 | 15.4% |
| Mansfield | $665,000 | -5.5% | 7 | 75.0% |
| Sharon | $898,000 | -1.9% | 10 | -9.1% |
| Stoughton | $576,200 | -7.0% | 20 | 33.3% |
| Canton | $596,000 | 6.4% | 3 | -85.7% |
Condos
In the condominium market, deals can still be had in Rhode Island. Sales in Massachusetts were down 2.2 percent in 2024, but home prices rose 4.9 percent. Comparatively, condo sales in Rhode Island rose 22.9 percent last year, and the median price fell 4.2 percent.
| STATE | DEC. 2024 PRICE | % CHANGE FROM DEC. 2023 | % CHANGE IN NO. OF SALES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mass. | $521,750* | 5.0% | 10.5% |
| R.I. | $345,000 | -4.17% | 22.9% |
* Record-breaker for the month
“Many keep asking why we’re not feeling a slight market cooling like most of the rest of the country,” said Chris Whitten, 2025 president of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors. “The two biggest factors include our severe drought of new-construction units paired with those from out-of-state, particularly Massachusetts, looking at Rhode Island as a more affordable option. Many housing market experts have their eyes on Rhode Island as one of the nation’s hottest housing markets here in 2025.”
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RE/Max identified Providence as the city with the fifth biggest increase in closed transactions in 2024. The city saw nearly a 24 percent jump year over year.
Prospective home buyers are also headed north. The report named Burlington, Vt., and Manchester, N.H., the top two housing markets with the biggest increases in listings.
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