Worcester has been a popular destination for homebuyers looking to trade commute time for affordability in recent years. But that position could be slipping. iStock photo
Worcester County’s housing market used to be the darling of the Massachusetts real estate. But the same slowdown that’s restraining the Boston-area market seems to be dragging “the Woo” down, too.
Worcester County experienced a 12.8 percent decline in the combined number of single-family home and condominium sales through May 31 according to data from The Warren Group, the publisher of Banker & Tradesman.
With 2,352 sales through May, there were 344 fewer sales, the largest decline among all Massachusetts counties. The city of Worcester itself saw a 13.4 percent year-on-year decline in the number of condos and single-family sales, with only 369 sales through the end of May 2026.
Out of the 61 cities and towns in the county, 39 experienced a decline in sales through May 31, the most recent data available. Of the 11 busiest home-sales markets in the county, eight saw declines in sales.
Additionally, fewer people have tried to sell their homes so far in 2026. There was 7.1 percent decline in the number of single-family homes on the market in the county in May (1,058) and a 1.3 percent decline in the number of condos on the market (299), according to the most recent data from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.
New single-family listings only increased by 1.5 percent (892) and a 0.5 percent increase for condominiums (206) in May according to MAR.
RE/MAX Partners broker owner David Stead noted that he has brought more listings to market this year, but competition for homes has declined.
“I’ve had a lot more listings than I did last year at this time, but the buyer traffic is definitely not as strong as it was a year ago,” the Worcester-based broker said. “In terms of getting offers, you may have a dozen offers on the property a year ago, and you might have two or three or four now.”
Did Late Winter Delay Some Listings?
Similar to the rest of Massachusetts, inventory is curtailing the number of transactions so far in 2026.
“I think the biggest challenge for many of our potential buyers is supply,” Bay State Bank President and CEO Seth Pitts said. “We’ve got one of the largest [purchase mortgage] pre-approval pipelines we’ve ever had, and there just aren’t many homes that fit certain buyer standards.”
Brokers and agents say today’s buyers are hesitant to purchase homes that they know they will have to do work on. With the costs of a Massachusetts home increasing and no let-up in sight, buyers want a home that they can easily move into and not one they will have to spend money or time fixing up after paying a hefty price tag.
Poor weather to start the year also dragged down the number of homes on the market during the traditional spring selling season, said Kathy McSweeney, 2022 president of the Realtor Association of Central Massachusetts and a Realtor with Lamacchia Realty in Northborough.
“I think it has a lot to do with the weather,” she said. “We just got bombarded this year. I don’t know the last time we had this much snow in Worcester County. Everyone thinks about putting the house on the market in the spring when the grass is green, and everything looks beautiful, and we didn’t get that ’till May.”
Pending-sales data suggests more than a few buyers didn’t find what they were looking for until late in the season. MAR data for the Central Massachusetts Association of Realtors’ territory shows a 38 percent year-on-year jump in the combined number of pending single-family and condominium sales in May, compared to an 11 percent year-on-year jump in May 2025.
Higher Gas Prices Threaten Appeal
But the value proposition at the heart of many Worcester County homes is also being challenged by fallout from the Iran war.
Homebuyers looking to Worcester from outside the county – historically a significant share of Worcester-area buyers – are largely looking to make their dollars go further.
The median condo price in Worcester County was $369,000. while the median single-family home price is $470,000. These prices are a discount compared to Greater Boston – the median single-family home in Greater Boston cost $833,750 and the median condo $665,000 according to The Warren Group.
Agents suggest a harsh, late winter helped keep some homes off the market late into the spring in the Worcester area, even as some buyers may have grown skittish. iStock photo illustration
But those cost benefits are now being whittle away by rising in gas prices, thanks in part to the Trump administration’s war against Iran and Iran’s attempts to close the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation. A market such as Worcester, where homebuyers might be adding significant miles to their drive into Boston, can have buyers reconsidering their home searches.
“Everybody’s dealing with the squeeze from the economy,” said Stead, with RE/MAX Partners. “With oil prices being up, commute costs are higher.”
The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in Worcester County is $3.91 last week, according to AAA, but it was $4.36 in early June – a major jump from $3.05 per gallon AAA reported in early June 2025.
President Donald Trump declared the multi-month ceasefire between U.S. and Iranian forces was “over” last week, according to The Associated Press. American forces launched multiple days of aerial strikes on Iranian military targets after Iranian forces damaged several merchant ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
Worcester Revitalization Drew Firms, Too
Worcester’s appeal to out-of-town buyers hasn’t just been affordability. Worcester itself has undergone a lot of changes in the last 10 years.
“In my entire career with Redfin, over the past 10 years, you’ve seen an exodus of buyers coming,” Grafton-based Redfin agent Brian Connelly said. “They have really fought to do initiatives like bringing in a triple-A baseball team. Also you’ve seen explosions with respect to the [University of Massachusetts] medical school. I own a property just outside of Worcester that I rent out to two medical students, and watching the hospital grow over the past decade has been insane.”
This migration has also seen businesses come to the area as well.
“I think that people are really keying in on the inbound growth from a lot of people moving out of the high cost areas into a more affordable and family-centered Worcester,” Bay State Bank’s Pitts said. “That has also drawn businesses to capture that wave as well.”
The Worcester-based bank has also seen a noticeable growth in the bank’s commercial and business lending, he said.
Public and private efforts have also been made to improve the image of the city. Local government officials have also increased the nightlife options and overall amenities that exist in the city. Along with the Worcester Red Sox, the city also has a minor league hockey team, the Worcester Railers.
“City managers have done a ton of work to turn Worcester into an 18-hour city with the Woo Sox, the Railers, and there’s great restaurants in Worcester,” said McSweeney, the Lamacchia agent. “I used to always go into Boston for major celebrations, and now there’s nice places to eat in Worcester. So, I think they’ve done a lot to turn it around, make it more desirable.”
Sam Lattof
Price Jumps Raise Affordability Questions
But these amenities come with a price. When places become more desirable, that drives home prices higher, sometimes higher than what the typical buyer can afford.
While single-family home and condo prices have remained virtually flat year-over-year in May, the gains over the last five years are great. The median condo sale price in Worcester County have grown 47.6 percent compared to year-to date May data in 2021 while the median single-family home price increased by 34.3 percent.
“I don’t think there’s a deal anywhere in real estate,” McSweeney said. “Prices are definitely high.”
Along with the revitalization of Worcester County, the same lack of homes available has pushed prices up, just as it has across Massachusetts. This has priced some prospective Worcester homebuyers out of the market.
Calculations by the listings portal Zillow say a household would need to earn around $131,600 to be able to afford the median-priced home in May with a 20 percent down payment, typical for move-up buyers who are selling their starter home as their family or job prospects grow. But the median income for the area is just $102,846. Greater Boston’s is $121,351.
“It creates an affordability challenge for the large majority of buyers,” Pitts said. “We’re talking about a pent-up demand with a well-diversified group of people that can’t all just buy anything they want, whenever they want.”
