Observer
Town report

Essex

Essex has 13 homes for sale. 62% of them have cut their price, against 45% statewide. Over the past 12 months, single-family homes went under agreement in a median 19 days, and 48% sold at or above their first asking price.

62%
of homes for sale have cut their price
72
days on the market, typical listing now
48%
of homes sold in the past 12 months went at or above the first asking price

3 in 5 sellers in Essex have cut their price. That's more than most of Massachusetts.

Share of homes for sale with a price cut. Every dot is a Massachusetts town with 20 or more listings.

0%Statewide 45%80%
Statewide: 7,598 of 16,853 homes for sale. Source: Verified market data; analysis by the Observer Markets Desk.
Show the numbers
TownFor saleWith a price cut
Hopkinton5470%
Reading2868%
Templeton2868%
Groton3266%
Hull5265%
Northborough4365%
Ashland3465%
Mattapoisett4363%
Amherst4262%
Athol3962%
Sandwich6360%
Waltham11360%
Ashburnham2560%
Hudson5260%
Rockland4760%
Sudbury4760%
Millis2259%
Hanover2458%
West Brookfield2458%
Belmont5558%
Bourne7158%
Marion3757%
Dedham6057%
Somerset2357%
Westfield7156%

Single-family homes are selling about 9% below the first asking price.

Median sale price as a share of the first asking price, by month of sale. The black line is 100% of the asking price; above it, buyers paid more than the seller first asked.

Single-family

90.6%
Oct 2025Oct 2026
Months with fewer than 5 sales are left out. Source: Verified market data; analysis by the Observer Markets Desk.
Show the numbers
MonthSingle-family
October 2025– (3 sales)
November 2025– (1 sales)
December 202597.5% (5 sales)
January 2026– (1 sales)
February 2026– (0 sales)
March 2026– (2 sales)
April 2026– (2 sales)
May 2026– (4 sales)
June 2026100.0% (7 sales)
July 2026– (1 sales)
August 202690.6% (5 sales)
September 2026– (3 sales)
October 2026– (0 sales)

Essex has 14% fewer homes for sale than 12 weeks ago.

Homes for sale at the end of each week, and offers accepted each week. At the last four weeks' pace, today's homes would take 24 weeks to go under agreement.

Homes for sale

158
12
Aug 3Oct 26

Offers accepted

21
0
Aug 3Oct 26
Source: Verified market data; analysis by the Observer Markets Desk.
Show the numbers
Week ofFor saleOffers acceptedNew listings
Aug 31412
Aug 101310
Aug 171311
Aug 241502
Aug 311500
Sep 71410
Sep 141220
Sep 211403
Sep 281422
Oct 51210
Oct 121301
Oct 191210
Oct 261200

What sold in the last 12 months

By home type. Median sale price, with days to an accepted offer and the share that sold at or above the first asking price.

  • Single-family$930K31 sales · 19 days to offer · 48% at or above first ask
Source: Verified market data; analysis by the Observer Markets Desk.
Show the numbers
TypeSalesMedian priceDays to offerOffer within 7 daysAt or above first ask
Single-family31$930,0001926%48%

How we measure

Figures come from the multiple listing service most Massachusetts agents use, verified and refreshed every morning. A price cut means the current asking price is below the original one. Days to offer runs from the listing date to the accepted offer. Sales are closings in the last 12 months; homes sold without an agent are not included. Coming-soon listings are never counted.

Reported, written, fact-checked and published by the Observer's agentic newsroom. Every figure is checked against verified market data before it runs.