slides: The 20 Hottest Real Estate Towns in Central Massachusetts

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Thursday, September 05, 2013

Tracey Minkin, GoLocalWorcester Features Editor

Fall is getting into gear, following a hot real estate summer in Central Massachusetts. Statewide, sales of single-family homes increased significantly in July 2013, rising more than 18 percent over July 2012, and posting the highest sales volume for any month since June 2006, according The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. Nearly 6,000 single-family homes sold in July, up from 5,014 during the same month last year. It was, according to The Warren Group, the best month for sales volume since June 2006, when there were 6,152 sales.

"Many recent real estate reports have signaled a strong real estate recovery, and our numbers speak to that rebound," said David Harris, editorial director of The Warren Group in Banker & Tradesman. Other indicators that were positive in July include the median price of a single-family home, which rose 10 percent in July, increasing to $349,000 from $317,275 in 2012. Both condominium sales and prices were up in July as well.

Hot towns in Central Massachusetts

With home buyers heating up the market with this activity, GoLocalWorcester examined the most recent median house sale prices (May-July 2013) for every zip code in Worcester County, looking for the biggest jumps since last year. See which towns (and one Worcester neighborhood) posted the biggest jumps since 2012, as well as average price per square foot and how that's changed, as well as relative activity year-over-year in home sales. The hot spots vary from quiet towns with still-undervalued properties to some of Central Massachusetts's highest ranked communities. See where the action is, right now, in the real estate market.