Essex County Median Prices: town by town guide

Mid-year is a good time to look at Essex County Median Prices for Single Family Homes (SFH) on a town by town basis.
Guide to the tables
The 34 cities and towns are listed in alphabetical order. The first two columns show the median prices for the first half of 2005 and 2006 – I show both years because the peak year was 2005 in some towns and 2006 in others.
The next two columns show the median price for 2015 and 2016, followed by the percentage change of 2016 over 2015. Following that is a column showing the change in 2016 from the pre-great recession high, whether it be 2005 or 2006.
And finally, I show sales for the two years. This is important because the smaller the number of sales the greater the chance that median prices will show bigger swings.
Note that the median price for the whole of Massachusetts increased 3% and for Essex County 4% compared with 2015, while some towns with a very small number of sales often saw much bigger increases – and indeed decreases.
As always, having the numbers is a start – it is the interpretation that is important. I can produce, on request, for any of these towns the same detailed analysis I publish regularly on Marblehead, Swampscott, Salem, Beverly and Lynn. (more…)