In this post, I’m going to go over Marblehead Massachusetts, it’s real estate market and then living in Marblehead, going through the pros and cons you should know if you’re considering moving to Marblehead!
My name is Joe Luciano & I’m a Realtor with Bentley’s here on the North Shore of Massachusetts. My video for Salem has been the most popular so far, so I wanted to do one for the nearby and somewhat similar town of Marblehead.
Marblehead Real Estate
Starting off with Marblehead real estate. So far this year, there’s been a total of 111 sales: 87 houses, and 24 condos. This is pretty close to where we were last year, 4 less houses and an extra condo comparatively.
Looking at just the single family homes that have sold, the median sale price for this year is $960,000. This is up $85,000 or nearly 10% from the same time last year.
Looking at the average, it’s a little over $1.1 million, but actually down year over year $13,000 or a bit over 1%. So there’s been a pretty big jump in the median and a slight decrease in the average sale price.
It’s difficult to draw any real conclusions just from that, so let’s also look at the price per square foot. The median in Marblehead was about $458, only up $2 from last year. The average was about $488 which similarly to the median is fairly level to the year before only down about $3.
What does all of this really tell us? Well the median is more useful in a town like Marblehead where you have oceanfront estates that will heavily weigh the averages. The median just tells you half of the homes sold for more than this and half sold for less.
Considering the median increased $85,000 while the average was fairly steady around 1.1 million and price per square foot was also steady, this tells me that the values in marblehead haven’t really gone up since last year, but the allocation of what’s sold has leaned on the more expensive side therefore pushing up the median.
In other words there’s been fewer, I don’t want to say affordable, but less expensive homes becoming available.
Speaking of the less expensive side, let’s spend a minute talking about the condos in Marblehead. Making up about 22% of the total sales this year, both the median and average sale price for condos was close to $500,000
Oddly, the median is down 10% from last year and the average is down about 2.5%. Looking at price per square foot the median is up over 16% to $459 and the average is also up nearly 10% at $495. The reasoning for this is simply: last year 8 of the condos were at Marblehead Meadows, a new development then consisting of 20 units.
They were all $650,000 & $680,000 while being over 1,700 square feet. That in turn raised the bar for the general prices and lowered it for price per square foot given their size.
This year has been more normal, so smaller units with lower prices (overall), but higher price per square foot.
Currently there are 21 listings in Marblehead, 18 of them being single family homes. Nine of those listings are new from the past week or so. One notable listing is 4 Broadmere Way listed just shy of $8 million with 2 acres and almost 10,000 square feet directly on the ocean!
For both condos and houses, we’re still seeing offers come in within a week of being listed for the most part so competition locally is still high.
Homes For Sale in Marblehead Currently
Pros & Cons to Living in Marblehead MA
Pros:
It’s on The Ocean!
Marblehead is surrounded by the ocean and therefore has lots of access for boaters and beachgoers. Just in Marblehead, there’s six yacht clubs! Split with three of them being on Marblehead Neck one of which is the Corinthian Yacht Club, A few others to note in Marblehead include the Marblehead and Boston Yacht Club. This makes Marblehead truly a boaters paradise on the North Shore
When it comes to beaches, the most popular in town is Devereux, but there’s also Preston Beach in Clifton which is closer to Swampscott. Not to mention a bunch of smaller beaches and access point scattered throughout Marblehead
Number of Parks in Marblehead
Right in tune with talking about the beaches in Marblehead, there’s also a bunch of parks! On Marblehead Neck, there’s Chandler Hovey Park & Castle Rock Park, both of which are small parks with big ocean views. Also on Marblehead Neck is the Marblehead Neck Wildlife Sanctuary which is run by the Mass Audubon. Off of the Neck but still in Marblehead, is Fort Sewall which was formerly a military reservation dating back to 1644.
Views of Boston from Marblehead Neck
Something great about Marblehead Neck and the views from here is that on a clear day, there’s a great view of the Boston city skyline!
History of Marblehead
There’s of course great history in Marblehead, being right next to Salem and lots of historic homes in town, especially the historic district downtown.
Vibrant Downtown
Downtown Marblehead is very vibrant, there’s museums, restaurants, boutiques, and it’s all very walkable! Not to mention that classic New England coastal charm throughout
Tedesco Country Club
There’s also the Tedesco Country Club for all of the golfers out there which is private but has has one of the top courses in the state (according to them that is!)
Cons
Difficult to Commute
It is somewhat inaccessible and not great for those needing to commute. In the best case scenario, you’re looking at about a 30 minute drive to the North End of Boston. Realistically it will be somewhere in the 45 minutes to an hour range while only being a 16 mile drive.
Currently while the Sumner Tunnel is closed, it’s just over an hour at 3pm on a Thursday which is in fact longer than it would take from Newburyport.
Congested & Busy with People
With that, I would also add Marblehead is chronically congested, It can back up pretty quickly throughout. In the summer months and on the nicer weekends, it gets slammed with people & extremely busy
Tight One Way Streets
In Marblehead, there’s also a number of tight one way streets especially around the historic district. So it can get pretty backed up with cars, there’s often a lot of people and pedestrians on the weekends and when it’s nice out, and all of this is on tight little streets
It can be the perfect storm for a bit of summer chaos trying to drive in Marblehead!
Tough to Park in Downtown Marblehead
And with everything already mentionedt, as you might expect parking can sometimes be tough for the access points to the water and various parks in town.
20+ Year Waitlist for a Mooring in Marblehead Harbor!
One last con before wrapping this up is that if you do have a boat, it’s extremely difficult to get a mooring in Marblehead. There’s over 1700 moorings in Marblehead Harbor, but there’s about a 20+ year waitlist to get one! Your best bet will probably be in nearby Salem
Conclusion
Marblehead is certainly a beautiful coastal town on the North Shore of Massachusetts and may make a perfect home for you and your family! As a Realtor in Marblehead Massachusetts and covering the North Shore, I would love to help you either buy or sell your next home in Marblehead!
Connect With a Realtor
Joe Luciano, Realtor®
Joe Luciano is a Realtor with Bentley's and the owner of the Joe's Homes brand. Joe works in Marblehead and the nearby communities