Medford Real Estate Market Review: 2024
Introduction
As we look back on 2024, I am excited to share with you a complete breakdown of Medford neighborhood data for:
Average rental prices for 1, 2, 3, and 4-bedroom units
Average sold prices for 2 and 3-family properties
Average sold prices for 1, 2, 3, and 4-bedroom condos
If you want to skip the high-level data summary and jump RIGHT to details on your neighborhood only, click on one of the links below:
Data Summary
This data could be valuable to you in several cases:
If you’re an investor or thinking about becoming an investor, these data points will help you figure out on a high-level what you can roughly expect for rental rates in various neighborhoods based on bedroom count for rentals as well as condos. You’ll also have a better understanding of what you’ll need to pay to purchase multi-family properties.
If you are a primary buyer looking for a condo, you should have a pretty good idea of what neighborhoods are likely to be affordable for you and which ones are likely out of budget or pushing it.
When you see fields that are marked “N/A” there were not enough data points for that specific category. Generally this means there are not a lot of sales or rented units for that specific property type. This is actually valuable information, because if you are looking in a category that is marked N/A as a primary buyer, it signals it may not be easy to find or what you’re looking for may not exist at all - in other words, there’s a good chance you’ll need to adjust your search.
A few quick caveats on the data:
The data is from MLSpin. Understand that there are many rentals that happen off MLS and are not covered in this data set.
No off-market data is included.
Some fields have N/A. We require a minimum 10 rental data points or 3 buy/sell data points to populate data.
All neighborhood locations are a 0.5 mile radius from their T or commuter rail stop.
There was insufficient data to include studios this year.
After looking at this data, are you concerned your rental is underpriced or overpriced? Are you curious about selling or investing in multi-families? Are you thinking of buying a condo and feel overwhelmed? Please give me a ring to discuss anytime at 617-833-7457. Read on for my thoughts and analysis.
Neighborhood Deep Dive
Continue reading for my thoughts on each neighborhood. If you don’t want to scroll to find the neighborhood you’re interested in, just click on one of the links below.
South Medford
It feels like just yesterday when a typical 2-bed apartment in South Medford would rent for $2200/month. However, today the average sold price is up to $2927/month. I expect this trend to continue now that the new green line Tufts T stop is in place.
South Medford is very close to Somerville, but when you compare the average rental prices of a 2-bed between South Medford and various Somerville neighborhoods, you’ll see a difference of just $200/mo on the low end and $500/mo on the high end. That’s actually not that much, when you consider outside of Ten Hills in Somerville, South Medford would be the lowest price 2-family sold price clocking in at just $1.179M.
I think there’s a lot of room for growth in South Medford in the long run - so if you are a long term buy and hold investor, this could be a great place to consider.
The condo market is also a hidden gem here in my opinion. The average sold price for a 3-bed condo was $947k - compare that to Cambridge where virtually all average sold 2-beds were north of $1M or Somerville where most 3-beds sold north of $1.1M!
If you are in the market to purchase a condo, don’t sleep on South Medford. Not only will you pay a fraction of the cost compared to Camberville, but you will almost certainly get much more space and much more quality than you would get in Somerville or Cambridge at the same price.
West Medford
I think of West Medford as a double-edged sword. In my mind, it’s slightly less convenient compared to South Medford, as it’s slightly further away from the more desirable parts of Somerville/Cambridge. However, if you are on a tight budget you will also get even more value.
If you are looking to invest, the average 2-family sold for just $1.038M, but the rental prices aren’t that much lower than South Medford. And the average 3-bed condo price was just $824k - which is an outstanding value, particularly if you work from home or drive to work.
I do think from a long-term upside POV, there is more upside for South Medford, given it’s close proximity to the T and Somerville. That being said, I think for the right buyer or investor, West Medford can still be a great option to get into the market and potentially upgrade through a 1031 or sale down the line.
And that wraps up the latest data and my analysis on Medford! If you want to discuss further, give me a ring/text at 617-833-7457 or shoot me an email at Sage@CambridgeSage.com.