As the season changes, so too may the real estate market’s balance. For the first time in years, leverage is shifting slightly in favor of buyers, even in housing-starved Massachusetts.
There are several factors in play, but the big one is the cost of borrowing. A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now averages 7.4%. At the same time, more than nine out of 10 existing-mortgage holders have loans at lower rates, with some still clinging to those insanely low 2% notes left over from the pandemic era.
That continues to keep many potential buyers from moving up, while giving those who are shopping for a home more clout when it comes to negotiating a purchase.
It hasn’t created a glut of properties for sale in Plymouth, but the collective hesitance to let go of a cheap loan has led to an increase in inventory, giving buyers more choices. The days of so-called bidding wars over hot homes are – with some exceptions – a thing of the past. At least for now.
As of this week, the number of single-family homes for sale across town was 39% higher than a year ago. There were 172 houses on the market – a seven-year high – compared with 124 at the same time in 2025. Sale prices, however, are a lagging indicator, so we won’t know for sure whether price increases are giving way to modest cuts until a month or two from now. Certain properties in prime locations are often exempt from such trends.
Leon Lopes, a veteran broker with Compass Real Estate’s Plymouth office, said he’s noticed some people are already lowering their expectations.
“A number of Plymouth sellers are authorizing price drops in order to get their home sold,” he said in an email, while noting that the shift is “maybe not yet dramatic.”
Lopes also cited national data from Mike Simonsen, chief economist at Compass International Holdings, that show a 4.2% average list price cut, a 16% drop in pending sales from last year, and a 4.8% increase in the number of homes for sale.
In Plymouth, sales slowed last month. Just 98 homes were sold, compared with 123 in both August and July, according to Boston real estate tracking firm The Warren Group. Sixteen of those September deals topped $1 million.
The median sale price in September was $640,000, compared with $678,000 in August. The average price was $735,946, a figure that can be distorted by a few big-ticket deals.
With winter and another rate hike from the Federal Reserve on the horizon, the market in coming months could be chillier than normal in the coming months. Real estate forecasters aren’t especially optimistic about a warm-up any time soon.
“In 2027, we expect the headwind from affordability — reignited by the recent rebound in mortgage rates — to increasingly dominate, weighing further on activity,” Goldman Sachs analyst Ronnie Walker told Yahoo Finance on Tuesday. “Sustained higher mortgage rates will continue to have their most pronounced impact on housing turnover, and the recent run-up in rates is likely to push existing home sales lower in the coming months.”
And let’s not forget beleaguered first-time buyers. An uptick in inventory is small comfort when interest rates keep rising. Coming up with the mountain of money needed for a down payment is a moving target that keeps getting farther away. The median age of a first-time homebuyer is 40, according to the National Association of Realtors. In 1981, it was 29.
Below is a list of September real estate sales in Plymouth, ranked from highest to lowest price.
September 2026 Real Estate Sales
9/8/2026 – 4 Priscilla Beach Rd – $2,750,000
9/10/2026 – 318-R Center Hill Rd – $1,795,000
9/10/2026 – 6 Owls Nest – $1,600,000
9/24/2026 – 63 Bentgrass Mist – $1,583,390
9/25/2026 – 7 Bridge Gate – $1,359,000
9/15/2026 – 20 Wickertree – $1,350,000
9/15/2026 – 31 Monisa Kay Dr – $1,225,000
9/1/2026 – 47 Clifford Rd – $1,210,000
9/3/2026 – 10 Veridian – $1,210,000
9/25/2026 – 11 Highland Ter – $1,200,000
9/24/2026 – 10 Loons Call – $1,169,000
9/25/2026 – 46 Sandwich Rd Unit 28 – $1,167,085
9/24/2026 – 9 Broadleaf Unit 4 – $1,129,000
9/3/2026 – 110 Fairview Ln – $1,100,000
9/2/2026 – 7-9 Savery Lane – $1,050,000
9/30/2026 – 61 Kestrel Hts – $1,049,000
9/17/2026 – 134 Court St Unit 7 – $989,000
9/10/2026 – 46 Sandwich Rd Unit 42 – $969,000
9/25/2026 – 7 Broadleaf Unit 3 – $929,000
9/21/2026 – 6 Sunset Blvd – $926,000
9/8/2026 – 116 Sandwich Rd – $925,000
9/3/2026 – 24 Winding Way – $910,000
9/24/2026 – 35 Raymond Rd – $890,000
9/30/2026 – 28 Cottage Cv – $890,000
9/9/2026 – 29 Cape Cod Ave – $880,000
9/22/2026 – 2 Bay Cliff Cir – $850,000
9/9/2026 – 25 Schubert Rd – $840,000
9/17/2026 – 67 Outlook East – $834,729
9/25/2026 – 26 Hickory Bend Way Unit 24-2 – $824,987
9/21/2026 – 104 Perseverance Path – $815,000
9/28/2026 – 27 Mariners Way – $795,000
9/10/2026 – 24 Hickory Bend Way Unit 24-1 – $793,420
9/15/2026 – 100 White Clover Trl – $789,900
9/11/2026 – 2000 State Rd – $789,000
9/28/2026 – 5 Windy Hill Dr – $785,000
9/11/2026 – 5 Mayflower St – $780,000
9/24/2026 – 6 Snapdragon – $756,900
9/30/2026 – 12 Belltree – $753,000
9/8/2026 – 22 Howland St – $740,000
9/30/2026 – 39 Cottage Cv – $740,000
9/14/2026 – 107 Boatwrights Loop – $739,900
9/1/2026 – 12 Millers Joist – $720,000
9/3/2026 – 53 Vine Brook Rd – $710,000
9/15/2026 – 38 Glen Ave – $706,000
9/1/2026 – 63 Bay Shore Dr – $705,000
9/2/2026 – 51 Jamies Path – $675,000
9/8/2026 – 7 Russell St Unit 304 – $675,000
9/14/2026 – 38 Miter Dr Unit 26-3 – $653,446
9/17/2026 – 7 Lascala Ave – $640,000
9/30/2026 – 33 Trask Rd – $640,000
9/29/2026 – 35 Hickory Bend Way Unit 16-1 – $635,651
9/10/2026 – 50 Forest Ave Ext – $631,500
9/30/2026 – 295 Raymond Rd – $626,871
9/8/2026 – 460 Raymond Rd – $625,000
9/3/2026 – 46 Esta Rd – $621,000
9/25/2026 – 12 Cutter Dr – $620,000
9/25/2026 – 48 Liberty St – $600,000
9/18/2026 – 8 Sansome St – $595,000
9/28/2026 – 1144 State Rd – $595,000
9/15/2026 – 27 Bumblebee Dr – $580,000
9/1/2026 – 39 Reed Ave – $575,000
9/3/2026 – 65 Post N Rail Ave – $570,000
9/24/2026 – 353 Carver Rd – $550,000
9/25/2026 – 31 Clearwater Dr – $550,000
9/21/2026 – 13 Cutter Dr – $544,000
9/4/2026 – 514 Wareham Rd – $542,000
9/3/2026 – 49 Drum Dr – $538,000
9/10/2026 – 32 Drum Dr – $536,500
9/10/2026 – 38 Davenport Rd – $535,000
9/17/2026 – 40 Bumblebee Dr – $532,200
9/23/2026 – 492 State Rd – $529,000
9/17/2026 – 28 Cherry St – $525,000
9/28/2026 – 50 Standish Ave – $519,000
9/15/2026 – 19 Tall Pines Rd – $513,000
9/25/2026 – 50 Nightingale Rd Unit 3 – $512,000
9/3/2026 – 38 Bumblebee Dr – $500,000
9/4/2026 – 38 Sandy Beach Rd – $495,000
9/9/2026 – 393 Court St Unit 6 – $495,000
9/30/2026 – 62 Mariners Way Unit 210 – $483,000
9/14/2026 – 21 Sheridan Dr – $480,600
9/11/2026 – 83 Valley Rd – $469,900
9/9/2026 – 109 Packard St – $465,000
9/24/2026 – 74 Raymond Rd – $465,000
9/15/2026 – 105 Alewife Rd Unit 25B – $462,500
9/18/2026 – 22 Westcliff Dr – $439,000
9/9/2026 – 27-1/2 Fremont St Unit 2 – $422,000
9/18/2026 – 44 Leland Way Unit B – $420,000
9/18/2026 – 10 Dorset Ln – $415,000
9/23/2026 – 52 Liberty St Unit C5 – $410,000
9/1/2026 – 10 Water St Unit 7 – $405,000
9/14/2026 – 36 Miter Dr Unit 26-2 – $337,200
9/28/2026 – 3 Marc Dr Unit 3C-4 – $332,000
9/2/2026 – 8 Alpine Rd – $320,000
9/18/2026 – 7 Marc Dr Unit 7A-10 – $295,000
9/15/2026 – 28 N Spooner St – $250,000
9/25/2026 – 681 State Rd Unit 10 – $215,000
9/2/2026 – 44 River St – $170,000
9/14/2026 – 8 Tideview Path Lot 12 – $170,000
Mark Pothier can be reached at mark@plymouthindependent.org.