A glut of buyers looking for single-family homes sent prices soaring in Greater Boston’s suburbs, which in turn drove some back to the region’s condominium market.

Homebuyers’ outward migration continued through 2021 in Greater Boston, propelled by desperate searches for less expensive housing, more outdoor space and more idyllic surroundings. 

But it appears people started to give condominiums another chance, both in the ‘burbs and in Boston itself, with statewide condo sales significantly increasing 18 percent in 2021 after taking a hit in 2020, according to data from the Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.   

The one caveat to the apparent condo sales rebound: Median condo prices in downtown Boston actually fell last year, a rare occurrence during a decades-long era of red-hot residential real estate. 

Local real estate industry figures report that both the single-family home and condo markets were marked once again last year by incredibly high demand and comparatively low inventory, driving up prices in most towns, cities and neighborhoods.  

Statewide single-family home sales increased last year to 62,335, up 1 percent over 2020 and up 5 percent since 2019, before the pandemic, according to The Warren Group.  

Though small in nature, the statewide sales increase bucked the pattern of declining inventory in recent years in Massachusetts. 

But it clearly wasn’t enough to meet demand, with statewide median prices for single-family homes jumping to $510,000 last year, up 14 percent from 2020 and up a whopping 28 percent since 2019. 

Five More Million-Dollar Towns 

As a result of surging prices, five more communities last year passed the $1 million mark in median single-family home prices – Hingham, Manchester, Sudbury, Westwood and West Tisbury. There are now 27 towns and cities in Massachusetts with median home prices above $1 million. 

Besides those million-dollar communities, other towns saw big surges in single-family prices, such as Acton, where median prices spiked to $789,000, up 15 percent since 2020 and 30 percent since 2019, according to The Warren Group.  

Amy Mizner of Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty said demand for top-end homes in MetroWest towns like Sudbury, Weston, Lincoln and Wayland showed no sign of abating in 2021 – even with COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out last spring. 

“COVID continues to have a big impact on the market,” said Mizner. “There’s still a lot of remote working. People are working out of their homes, and they need more space. They want backyards and pools.” 

Demand High from Cape to Berkshires 

While many people describe the pandemic-era migration as one moving relentlessly westward, toward Interstate 495 and well beyond, data shows that just about every region of the state outside Boston’s urban core has recently seen strong prices surges. 

In Berkshire County, single-family median prices hit $275,00, up 10 percent over 2020 and up 28 percent since 2019. In Hampshire County, median prices were $348,659 last year, up 15 percent since 2020 and up 25 percent since 2019. 

On the Cape, prices skyrocketed, rising to $569,250 last year, up 20 percent over 2020 and up 39 percent since 2019, according to The Warren Group. 

“I can’t even begin to tell you how many buyers are out there looking for space,” said Joan Witter, a vice president with Compass on Cape Cod. “Everything is going fast. It’s second-home buyers. It’s year-round buyers.” 

She said home buyers are not the only ones in fierce competition to land homes in today’s market on the Cape.  

She noted that there were 323 listings from Plymouth to Provincetown as of early February – and about 2,200 real estate agents competing for those deals.  

“It’s been crazy,” she said. 

Prices Sent Buyers to South Shore  

Even Gateway Cities saw soaring prices.  

The city of Brockton saw median single-family prices hit $395,000 last year, up 14 percent over 2020 and up 27 percent since 2019. Lowell’s single-family price ended up the year at $410,000, up 17 percent over 2020 and up 30 percent since 2019. 

On the South Shore, the pattern is the same: surging prices. In Canton, median single-family prices zoomed to $793,000 last year, up 23 percent since 2020 and 30 percent since 2019. 

Some towns saw more modest prices increases, such as Walpole, where single-family homes were going for $600,000, up 7 percent from 2020 and 15 percent since 2019. 

Denise Connell, a manager in the Dedham office at Donahue Real Estate, said people these days want to move out of more densely populated urban areas – but not too far out from urban areas and their amenities. 

“The closer to the city you are, the more expensive it is,” she said, pointing to the price differences between towns like Canton and Walpole.  

In general, prices on the South Shore “surpassed any of our expectations for 2021,” said Connell. 

Bullish on Cambridge 

In more urban areas near Boston, the picture was slightly different.  

Median single-family home prices in Cambridge were down last year by 1 percent, to $1.6 million, though they’re up 9 percent since 2019. Brookline saw its single-family prices drop by 4 percent last year, to $2.2 million, though prices are still up by 4 percent since 2019, according to data. 

Melvin Vieira Jr., of RE/MAX Destiny in Cambridge, said there’s definitely been a slowdown in activity in Cambridge due to the pandemic and the desire by many to move to more spacious environments. He noted homes are not selling as fast in Cambridge as they have in the past, with some remaining on the market for as much as a month. 

But Vieira, the 2022 president of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, said he remains bullish on Cambridge, mostly due to it being such a strong college town and home to a vibrant tech community. 

He said the current market is actually “more healthy,” with more moderate price increases. He added that he expects more of the same in 2022, when he said he anticipates a slight increase in overall inventory due to newly constructed condos becoming available. 

Downtown Condos Take a Hit 

As for the condo market, statewide sales plunged after the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, but they rebounded in 2021, to 28,530, up 18 percent over the prior year, according to The Warren Group.  

Meanwhile, statewide condo prices hit $453,773 last year, up 9 percent over last year and 19 percent since 2019. 

The Cape’s Barnstable County, perhaps not surprisingly, has seen the biggest condo price surge since 2019, up by 34 percent to $359,375. 

In downtown Boston, condo sales took a hit after the onset of the pandemic, but rebounded last year by about 22 percent over 2019’s levels.  

Some of the increase is due to newly constructed condos coming on the market last year, particularly in outer-ring neighborhoods, according to industry observers. 

The increase in sales appears to have dampened pricing in some parts of the city, with downtown condo prices falling to $864,500, down by about 10 percent in since 2020 and by 9 percent since 2019, according to November data.  

Despite the downtown price decreases, Will Montero, an agent at Gibson Sotheby’s International, said the downtown market – which includes the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Seaport, South End and other core inner neighborhoods – remains strong in general.  

As of early February, he said his data shows there were more than 200 condo sales of $2 million or more over the previous six months – and 56 condo sales of $4 million or more during the same time period. 

Looking ahead, Montero said he sees the market growing stronger in 2022, as the pandemic hopefully recedes.  

“I’m already seeing a bounce back, for sure,” he said of early 2022 trends. “The vaccinations have really helped. It used to be a ghost town in Boston. But now it’s much busier. Things are definitely headed in the right direction.”