Home Affordability in Boston, MA

Greater Boston crossed the $1 million single-family median for the second time in 2026 — but Massachusetts's transfer tax, "tax stamps," is unusually cheap for the Northeast.

The Boston market right now

Greater Boston's single-family median hit $1,032,500 in April 2026, per GBAR — up about 4.3% from $989,500 a year earlier, and only the second time the region has crossed the $1 million mark (the first was July 2025). Condos climbed too, to $750,000. Part of the story is supply: single-family listings were down about 5.5% year over year, in a state that has run a persistent, multi-year housing shortage without meaningful relief.

What it actually costs to buy in Boston

Most affordability calculators stop at the mortgage payment. That leaves out the two lines that decide whether a purchase is comfortable or tight: property tax and, below 20% down, PMI. Here is the full picture on a $1,032,500 home with 20% down at 6.65%:

Boston's effective property tax rate (1.16%) sits close to the national average — moderate for a major Northeast metro, and well below neighboring Hartford or Providence. That's a deliberate local policy choice: Massachusetts municipalities like Boston tax commercial property at meaningfully higher rates than residential, keeping the homeowner rate comparatively low.

Transfer tax and the long-run trade

Massachusetts calls its transfer tax a "deed excise tax" — known locally as "tax stamps" — and it is unusually cheap: $4.56 per $1,000 of sale price (0.456%), customarily paid by the seller. On the $1,032,500 example home that's roughly $4,710 — a fraction of what a comparable New York or San Francisco sale generates in transfer-related taxes. A few counties (Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket) add extra fees on top of the standard rate, but Boston is not one of them.

Two down payment scenarios

Putting down less than 20% brings private mortgage insurance into the picture — priced by how much you put down, not a flat rate. On the same $1,032,500 home:

The $103,250 you keep by putting down 10% instead of 20% carries a real recurring cost — about $426/month in PMI on top of a larger loan balance, until the balance falls to 80% of the original purchase price. Whether that trade is worth it depends on what else that cash could do for you: emergency reserves, invested elsewhere, or simply not being spent. That is the kind of trade-off a static calculator cannot weigh but a full 30-year projection can.

Cash needed to close

Beyond the down payment, budget for closing costs, prepaids, and move-in costs:

What income do you need?

There is no single answer, but there is a useful threshold. Viso starts flagging a purchase as tight once housing — mortgage, property tax, insurance, and PMI, excluding maintenance — passes about 42% of take-home pay. On the 20%-down scenario above, housing runs $6,551/month, which implies take-home of roughly $15,600/month to stay under that line.

We deliberately do not translate that into a gross salary. The gap between gross and take-home swings widely with filing status, retirement contributions, equity compensation, and — a large factor that varies entirely by state — whether you owe state income tax at all. Put your actual income and location into the planner and it will do the conversion properly.

Is 3.5% appreciation realistic for Boston?

We use 3.5%/year for Boston. Worth noting: Greater Boston crossing $1 million for the first time reflects a structural housing shortage rather than a temporary demand spike — arguably a more durable kind of price pressure than a one-time boom, but not a guarantee the current pace continues. Still worth stress-testing a lower rate in the planner.

Rate assumption: 6.65% (Freddie Mac PMMS 30-year fixed, as of 2026-08-20). Median price: Greater Boston Association of Realtors (GBAR), single-family home sales, April 2026.