Real Estate Trends

While most are firing up the grills for the season and prepping for an exciting summer, those in the know are making their move. For real estate professionals and savvy locals, this time of year is one of the most strategic times to buy or sell on the Cape.

Cape Cod saw a small decline in summer bookings compared to 2024, according to our advertising partners at weneedavacation.com. The frenzy of COVID bookings has clearly ended and now the vacation market is stabilizing, though at higher prices and higher demand than pre-pandemic levels. We expect 2026 to have similar booking rates to 2025 on Cape Cod. Off-Season bookings, especially fall, are up. This is good news for owners looking to maximize their rental’s potential and

Cape Cod Real Estate Market Update: December 2025 The Cape Real Estate Market is poised to close out 2025 essentially flat over 2024. Median sale price is up 3.1% year-to-date. Though this is lower than we have been used to since the start of the COVID market era, it nonetheless represents healthy annual appreciation. At the same time, days on market continues to climb, currently registering at 27.3% higher than last year. Similarly, the percent of list price received by

The Cape Real Estate market continued to show signs of a ‘return to normalcy’ in 2024. The average number of days on market rose to 41, the highest level since 2021. Percent of asking price received by sellers dropped to 96.6%, the same level we saw in 2017. And the seasonal bumps in activity that disappeared after COVID began to emerge in the spring and fall. In other words, houses are selling slightly more slowly, for slightly less than asking price, and slightly more frequ

Well folks, the sleigh ride is over. For the first time since 2019, last year concluded on something of a mixed note for the Cape Cod Real Estate market. Cape homes set a new record 12-month high of $679,750 in December of 2023, up an eye-watering 66% from $410,000 in December 2019. But if we look closer, we see that prices from November 2023 to February 2024 have dropped more than usual for the holiday season. We will be keeping a close eye on this metric in February and Mar

Cape Cod vacation rentals were gangbusters again for us in 2023 and we attribute much of this to our satisfied returning guests who comprised 50% of our 2023 bookings and 66% of our 2024 bookings thus far. We look forward to working with our repeaters each year and thank you for being valued customers! 1. Bookings are down Cape-wide: From one of our local advertising partners, weneedavacation.com, bookings are down almost 11% compared to 2023. However, the vacation rental m

Cape Cod vacation rentals continued to be very attractive to vacationers in 2022. The trend of early booking continued with 66% of all booking being completed by the end of March. 2023 seems on pace to be more similar to 2022 than 2021 in this regard, see the chart at right. In addition we noticed 1. International Travelers are back! I should specify and say that our friends to the North, specifically Canadians, returned in 2022 and we are seeing strong bookings from thes

January Review: While the January market was still exceptional, it gave us the first opportunity to breath since May of 2020; however this was not a typical "seasonal slow-down". Median price was up 33% from this time last year but held steady compared to the previous month, December 2020. Additionally closed sales declined significantly in January, to 297, which is more standard for this time of year. However the abysmal inventory (almost exactly 1000 fewer units than this

2020 was an unusual year to say the least and the vacation rental market on Cape Cod was no exception. Local hotels and motels suffered as many vacationers were either unable to travel or reluctant to be in shared spaces. However, when comparing our experience as short-term vacation rental brokers to the hotel industry, we found the comfort of a clean private vacation rental home to be an incredible draw during the pandemic. Let's unpack a couple points of interest from last

March Review: Well, life looked a lot different in March than we are used to and we can only assume that any changes the Cape Cod real estate market felt in March are merely the beginning of a trend line that we do not yet have a full view of. Some good news is that Gov. Baker has deemed real estate an essential service so we are still able to perform all of our normal functions, but with some adaptation based on the social distancing recommendations. This is crucial as it al

Vacation rentals on Cape Cod have been undergoing significant changes in the past 9 months. Here is a quick update on the recent developments. For more information we encourage you to visit the Massachusetts website of FAQs here What is a short-term rental? According to the Commonwealth, "A short-term rental is an occupied property that is not a hotel, motel, lodging house or bed and breakfast establishment, where at least 1 room or unit is rented out by an operator throug

Are sharks really taking a bite out of the Cape Cod summer rental market? The Boston Globe published an article on July 28th 2019 by Stephanie Ebbert, Cape Cod rentals are having an unexpectedly slow summer. As a quick synopsis the article states that summer vacation rentals are not filling up this year and hotels are down 5% (the data goes through May 31st only). The article posits several explanations including the new short-term rental tax, increasing shark populations a

September Review: September saw further gains in inventory with 6.7 months supply of single family homes. Since September and October generally experience the last of the summer listing frenzy before the winter slump and, with the rising interest rates and other market trends leading towards a more buyer favored market, the growth in inventory may continue into October at least. Median sales price continues to move upward compared to last year and, as a point of growing reg

After examining the process of selling on Cape Cod, it is now time for a buyer's perspective. For more information on selling your home, start at Part 1 of the series here. "OK Agnes, I am ready to buy a home on the Cape...uummmm...help?" "That's wonderful news! Owning a home is a dream many people want to realize and we take great pride in helping them do it. I'll approach from the perspective of first-time homebuyers and hit relevant points for all buyers along the way."

We have been tracking an interesting development with the 'Zestimate' function of Zillow. You can find an article here by Kenneth Harney in the Washington Post and another here by Rachel Koning Beals of Market Watch. To briefly summarize Zillow.com uses a feature involving a proprietary algorithm that pulls sales data and other factors (again we aren't sure what these factors are exactly) and produces an estimate on the price of the property. From Zillow's own definition

One question that comes up frequently in conversations these days is "why is inventory so low right now?" This is a great question to ask and informs much larger discussion about the economy, local real estate markets, and larger social trends. But let's start at the beginning. When real estate agents talk about 'inventory' they are really speaking of the number of homes, lots, commercial properties etc... that are currently for sale. Generally the unit in which invent

Real estate prognostications continue to be like hocus pocus. Depending on the whether the economic forecaster is an optimist or a pessimist; real estate prices are expected to go either up 1 % or down 2 % in the near future. However, what most everyone will agree to is the fact that the market is showing strong signs of having stabilized. In fact, the spring market on Cape Cod was stronger than in the past few years. This can be attributed to the fact that Buyers are aware t

Great news for Cape Cod The Cape is working its way out of thereal estate slump. The Barnstable County Register of Deeds reports that there was an almost nine percent increase in real estate sales in March of this year over March of last year. Inventory isselling with serious buyers active in the market. Interest rates remain attractive. The National Association of Realtors states that"sales of investment and vacation homes jumped in 2011, with the combined market share risin

Spring is here. We're happy to report that the Capereal estate market has heated up. We are seeing competitive bids on properties unlike the recent past. Now is the time to jump into the market to sell or to buy.Rates continue to be attractive. Plenty of properties from which to choose. If you have been thinking of owning a Cape Cod home, now is the time. Don't wait....give us a whistle.

Real Estate Forecast for 2012 National economists on average paint 2012 with cautious optimism given the fact that the volume of distress properties is dwindling, unemployment is down, and an inkling of consistent economic growth is evident. Because all real estate markets are driven by the local economy, it is important to look closer at particular areas to paint an accurate picture. The Cape Cod real estate market is no exception. We find: Inventory is shrinking--there were