State of the MA & South Shore Market: August 2026
Things are looking up on the South Shore, and the numbers back it up, both the national numbers and the ones straight out of our sales meeting this week.
Let's start with the bigger picture. The National Association of REALTORS® just released their July report, and a few things stood out. The Housing Affordability Index climbed to 103.3, up from 98.3 a year ago, even with 30-year mortgage rates sitting at 6.54%. Median existing-home prices rose for the 37th consecutive month. And while sales slowed or held flat in most of the country, the Northeast was the only region where sales actually grew month-over-month, up 2%.
That's the backdrop. Here's what's happening on top of it, right here.
The Numbers Behind the Story
Statewide, the Massachusetts market is up about 1% right now. Steady, nothing dramatic. Our company, William Raveis, is up 4.5%, outperforming that market as a whole.
Zoom into the South Shore corridor, Weymouth, Hingham, Cohasset, Scituate, Norwell, Duxbury, and Marshfield, and that same market is also up roughly 1%. Raveis in those towns specifically is up 15%.
So while the Northeast is the one region in the country bucking the national slowdown, the South Shore is outpacing even that regional strength. That's not a market trend carrying us along. That's a brokerage actively working these towns every day, outpacing the market by a wide margin in both cases.
What That Actually Means for You
Numbers like that raise a question worth asking yourself, whichever side of a transaction you're on:
If you're thinking about selling, what would it mean for your listing to get the kind of attention that outpaces the market by double digits, not by luck, but by a team that's actively working these towns every day?
If you're thinking about buying, what would it mean to have someone in your corner who's watching these specific neighborhoods closely enough to catch the right opportunity before it's everywhere?
What's Actually Happening on the Ground
National inventory ticked down slightly in July, 4.6 months of supply, and that scarcity is part of what's kept prices climbing for over three years straight. Here's the South Shore counterpoint to that: our photographer has been out shooting five houses a day for the last two weeks, and we've got 24 new inventory units coming onto the market. If national supply feels tight, this corner of the market is about to loosen up in a real way, and that's good news whether you're buying or selling.
Why We Love Talking About Our Towns
Every one of these communities, Weymouth's working waterfront, Hingham's harbor and historic district, Cohasset's coastline, Scituate's beaches, Norwell's town center, Duxbury's bay, Marshfield's neighborhoods, has its own personality. That's part of why this market performs differently than a national headline would suggest. People aren't just buying a house here. They're buying into a place they already know they love, or one they're about to.
And it's not just the coastal South Shore towns. We're just as active a little further inland, in Avon, Stoughton, and Bridgewater, towns with their own steady demand and their own reasons people put down roots and stay.
So I'll ask you the same question I'd ask any neighbor: what's the thing about your town that made you stay, or that would make you move there tomorrow if you got the chance?
Drop it in the comments. I read every one.
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