The balance of power in Massachusetts’ housing market still favors sellers over buyers, even if things are improving for the latter group. iStock illustration

The pace of home sales may be slower in Massachusetts this year, but sellers still hold the upper hand, observers say.

Demand remains high due to the overall lack of inventory in Massachusetts, said Massachusetts Association of Realtors 2026 President Kristen Keegan.

“This past month we actually only had a two-month supply of single-family homes and a three-month supply of” condominiums, she said. “So, it’s definitely still a very strong seller’s market for both single-family and the condo market.”

Slowing Home Sales Pace

According to MAR, there were 7,683 single-family homes on the market in May 2026.

This represents an 8.4 percent decline from May 2025 but follows months of increases that left Massachusetts with more homes for sale that at any May in the last five years.

Even so, the number of single-family home sales that closed in May fell 0.5 percent according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. The year-to-date statewide tally of single-family sales is running 3.3 percent behind last year.

Pending sales have seen a slight increase across Massachusetts since 2022. With 6,253 in May 2026 according to MAR, they are up 3.1 percent since May 2022.

“I wouldn’t say we’re in a balanced market yet,” Greater Boston Association of Realtors President Joselin Malkhasian said. “There’s still not enough inventory, especially single-family inventory, to meet the demand.”

Affluent Buyers Supporting Market?

Massachusetts has long struggled with inventory. A number all too familiar to housing advocates is that the state needs to construct 220,000 rental and for-sale units by 2035 to deal with the overall lack of housing inventory in the state.

And the number of affluent households in the state means more than a few buyers have the ability to make the tough math work and still afford to buy a new home, said Cross Country Mortgage Vice President Andrew Marquis, one of the state’s most prolific home-loan originators.

“There’s enough buyers that have the financial capability to eat up the inventory that’s available” and out-compete less well-heeled buyers, he said.

The median sales price for single-family homes in Massachusetts was $625,000 in May 2026, according to The Warren Group. This is a 30.2 percent increase from May 2021 and 17.9 percent from 2022.

According to the latest U.S. Census data, the average median household income is $104,828. This represents a 24.2 percent increase from 2020 census data.

The rise in prices has made non-affluent buyers stretch their budgets in order to be able to make a home purchase feasible.

“They are working to make it happen,” Marquis said. “Whether they are stretching their budget a little bit. Sometimes they are getting some of their inheritance earlier in life than they may have otherwise. They are getting help from parents or grandparents with regard to a down payment. Affordability to me is a very big concern.”

Some Homes Still Attracting Tough Competition

While economic uncertainty, in part tied to the on-again, off-again war with Iran, has kept some buyers on the sidelines, the buyers who are in the market are still dealing with high levels of competition.

This was particularly the case before the Trump administration launched the war Feb. 28, said Malkhasian, a Waltham-based Realtor at Lamacchia Realty.

“I was part of situations where there were 20,30 offers and homes selling for $300,000 over the list price,” she said. “So incredibly aggressive and busy spring market. I would say that went from February until about Mother’s Day.”

The level of competition is particularly high in some Boston suburbs, according to the Lexington-based Marquis.

“I don’t know if it’s white-hot, but it’s still red-hot in the sense that buyers that want to win their offers may have to forfeit a mortgage,” Marquis said. “May have to waive a mortgage contingency, may have to offer a two- or three-week closing. May have to make things very attractive in the eyes of a seller.”

New Listings Offer Hope

If Massachusetts is to become a more balanced market, increasing inventory will help ease stressors that today’s buyers face.

The number of new listings hitting the market has increased recently. New listings increased by 3.47 percent on a year-over-year basis in May with 6,277 new homes hitting the market, MAR data shows. This hints that, eventually, the state could return to normal inventory levels in the future, said the association’s Keegan, who’s also the broker/owner at Silver Key Homes Realty in Dracut.

“I think, slowly, we will get back there so that it is a little bit more balanced,” she said. “It’s just very slow-moving, but the amount of new listings that we have been seeing coming on the market is definitely very encouraging to help move the needle a little bit.”

Another reason for Keegan’s confidence that the market will shift? The pace of transactions. The average number of days a single-family home spent on market increased from 32 days in May 2025 to 36 days in May 2026. In May 2022, homes were typically sitting on the market for 18 days.

Not every home sells quickly anymore, she said.

“Buyers are being a little more picky and definitely looking for homes that are more move-in ready,” Keegan said. “We are seeing homes that might be cosmetically challenged taking longer than they typically would have.”

Sam Lattof

That slowdown could be further impacted due to the arrival of warm weather, which is a luxury in New England. With temperatures rising, homebuyers are less likely to spend a warm weekend looking at homes according to GBAR’s Malkhasian.

“There is a noticeable slowdown on the market right now. Open houses have been a little bit slower. There’s not as much buyer activity. It could also be seasonality with the weather getting better and people spending their weekends elsewhere and not at open houses.”

Some sellers being aggressive with their pricing is causing homes to sit on the market with interest rates remaining higher than anticipated, Malkhasian said.

While any impact on the number of homes for sale is likely years away, the state’s limited progress on liberalizing its restrictive zoning rules is giving some agents hope.

Keegan specifically highlighted the MBTA Communities Act for helping increase development.

“Being able to build more on these lots really helps open that market up, and has seen a lot more condo development as a result of it,” she said. “We’re just seeing a lot more zoning reform in a lot of towns to allow for smaller lots and more accessibility to different types of housing in different areas.”