A test train sits at the MBTA commuter rail station in Freetown during a December 2022 ribbon-cutting event. Real estate agents and brokers are hopeful the new South Coast Rail project will spur more homebuying in Bristol County. Photo courtesy of the MBTA

Real estate agents in the New Bedford and Fall River areas are bracing for a potential surge in homebuying after the new South Coast Rail commuter lines finally opens next spring, barring yet another delay.

And agents in parts of Bristol County say they’re already seeing a moderate bump in investment purchases of single-family and multi-family homes in the two hardscrabble cities and surrounding areas. Vacant properties and underused commercial buildings are also being targeted.

“People are coming down from Boston looking for deals,” said Nathan Carroll, a Realtor at The Echelon Group at Lion Gate Realty in Fall River. “A lot of them are going after multifamily homes. There are also developments going up near the waterfront. The commuter line is playing a role here.”

No one is saying New Bedford, the famous gritty fishing port, and Fall River, the former textile-manufacturing giant located on the eastern shore of Mount Hope Bay, are experiencing booms.

Indeed, the cities and their surrounding towns are experiencing the same fundamental problem facing all other communities in Massachusetts: a lack of homes for sale amid strong demand.

The severe supply-and-demand imbalance is driving home prices relentlessly upward and putting them further out of reach for many working-class and first-time homebuyers in the southeast region of the state, agents say.

Waiting for Impact

Still, real estate market data suggests that Bristol County has slightly outpaced the rest of the state in terms of home-price increases since 2021 – and local officials attribute that trend to a number of factors.

The year-to-date statewide median price for single-family homes has increased by 21 percent, to $609,900, since 2021, according to data from the Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. Meanwhile, the year-to-date median price for a single-family home in Bristol County has increased by 23 percent, to $485,000, since 2021.

It’s not a big price gap, but it’s still a gap favoring an area of the state not known for its strong real-estate market, industry figures say.

More recently, market data shows Bristol County keeping pace with the rest of the state.

The statewide median price for single-family homes was up 10 percent through the first six months of 2024, to $609,900, compared to the same period last year. Bristol County’s median single-family price during the same time period was up 9 percent, to $485,000, according to The Warren Group.

In Fall River, the year-to-date median price for single-family was up 7 percent, to $413,000, while the median price increased by 8 percent, to $379,000, in New Bedford.

Some Bristol County communities outside New Bedford and Fall River actually saw major surges in median single-family home prices during the first two quarters of 2024, such as in Dartmouth (prices up 22 percent), Raynham (up 21 percent) and Westport (up 18 percent).

Nicole Plante, owner of Even Keel Realty in Westport, said the coming South Coast Rail Line has so far had little to no effect on her coastal town of 16,000, located at the mouth of Buzzards Bay.

Instead, she said Westport is still experiencing a post-pandemic influx of people moving away from cities in search of more open and affordable areas of the state. Meanwhile, some older people living on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are also buying homes in Westport to be closer to mainland hospitals and other medical facilities, Plante said.

A private boat sails out of New Bedford Harbor. The city and its fellow South Coast communities have drawn a new wave of investors interested in small multifamily properties as an MBTA expansion project nears completion. iStock photo

A 90-Minute Train Ride

While the coming commuter line won’t reach all the way south to Westport, it should eventually impact the entire region’s real estate market, Plante acknowledged.

“It will attract more people,” she said.

Also known as the Fall River/New Bedford Rail Line, the South Coast Rail project was set to open in 2023 – only to be delayed till 2024. Then this spring, MBTA officials announced the launch will be delayed yet again, until May 2025.

No matter when it opens, the train service will have stops in Middleborough, East Taunton, Freetown and on Church Street in northern New Bedford, with terminals north of downtown Fall River and between New Bedford’s city’s wharves and historic downtown.

New Bedford and Fall River will each see three morning and three evening trains to Boston’s South Station, and a smattering of service in between the rush hours. Trains will take around 90 minutes to make each one-way trip, officials said in 2022.

Lori Nery, co-owner of Coastal Realty in New Bedford, said there’s a sense of excitement with the coming launch of the new rail service. Construction is largely over and the MBTA is already performing test runs on tracks, she said.

“The mood is: It’s actually going to happen soon,” said Nery. “They’re actually testing the tracks. We can see it with our own eyes.”

Low Prices, Downtown are Hoped-For Draws

New Bedford has definitely seen its share of Boston-area buyers coming to the city in search of more affordable housing in general.

“They’re discovering New Bedford for the first time. They’re just amazed at the prices,” she said.

Also, New Bedford’s recently rejuvenated downtown area is attracting both developers and deal-seeking homebuyers, she said.

But she hopes the coming commuter rail could be a potential game-changer for the city and the entire area, she said.

“It’s really exciting what’s happening in New Bedford,” she said. “Everyone seems to be jumping on the New Bedford bandwagon.”

Donna Davids, a broker associate at Coldwell Banker in Easton, said a number of towns in Bristol County, such as Taunton, have recently benefited from people outside the area seeking more affordable homes.

“All you have to do is follow the numbers – just follow the affordability numbers,” said Davids, who’s also a regional vice president for the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

But the coming commuter line will only accelerate the number of people looking for homes in the southeast region, she said.

“We’re definitely seeing an uptick in interest in the area,” she said.

The Echelon Group’s Carroll said the combination of Fall River’s housing affordability, at least compared to prices in the Boston area, and the coming commuter line are changing the dynamics of the market.

“There’s buzz now,” he said. “It’s all creating a positive impact.”