Your assessed value is not what your house would sell for, and it is not supposed to be. A Massachusetts assessment for this tax year reflects the market as of a valuation date well over a year ago, built from the sales around it. In a market that has kept rising, sales running ahead of assessments is the system working, not a scandal and not a discount.
How far ahead is a fact this site can measure, in the towns that trade enough to measure it. In the 38 towns with at least 10 recorded dwelling sales in their latest complete quarter, the typical median sale ran about 5% above the town's median assessment. In 28 of the 38, sales ran above assessments; in 10, below.
Both Ends of the Spread
At one end, West Stockbridge: median sale $683,750 in 2025 Q4 against a median assessment of $535,700, sales running 28% ahead. At the other, Amherst, where the median recorded sale actually came in below the median assessment.
A town at the top of that spread is usually a town whose market moved fastest since its valuation date. A town at the bottom is worth a closer look before concluding anything: a quarter dominated by smaller or rougher houses drags the sale median below the assessment median without a single house being overassessed, and in the thin markets here a quarter is easily dominated.
The 38 Towns with Comparable Published Figures
Sortable. The last column is the one the headline asks about: how far the quarter's sales ran from the roll.
Median Recorded Sale Against Median Assessment, Latest Complete Quarter
Download CSV, same columns, same definitions
For every town with at least ten recorded dwelling sales in its own latest complete quarter: the median sale price from recorded deeds, the median assessed single family value on the current roll, and the gap between them.
| Town | Quarter | Median Sale | Median Assessment | Sales Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 2025 Q4 | $244,288 | $246,850 | -1% |
| Agawam | 2025 Q4 | $350,000 | $342,300 | +2% |
| Amherst | 2025 Q4 | $430,000 | $537,100 | -20% |
| Becket | 2025 Q2 | $298,000 | $328,200 | -9% |
| Belchertown | 2025 Q4 | $450,000 | $418,200 | +8% |
| Brimfield | 2025 Q4 | $420,000 | $387,900 | +8% |
| Chicopee | 2025 Q4 | $300,000 | $287,000 | +5% |
| Dalton | 2025 Q3 | $364,000 | $315,300 | +15% |
| Deerfield | 2025 Q3 | $405,000 | $424,900 | -5% |
| East Longmeadow | 2025 Q2 | $375,000 | $344,200 | +9% |
| Easthampton | 2025 Q4 | $422,500 | $394,100 | +7% |
| Granby | 2025 Q4 | $395,000 | $382,300 | +3% |
| Great Barrington | 2026 Q1 | $620,000 | $518,000 | +20% |
| Greenfield | 2026 Q1 | $320,000 | $305,000 | +5% |
| Hampden | 2025 Q3 | $413,200 | $410,150 | +1% |
| Hatfield | 2026 Q1 | $450,500 | $430,500 | +5% |
| Holland | 2025 Q4 | $369,900 | $366,700 | +1% |
| Holyoke | 2024 Q4 | $289,000 | $262,450 | +10% |
| Lanesborough | 2025 Q4 | $295,000 | $309,850 | -5% |
| Lee | 2025 Q4 | $446,000 | $371,350 | +20% |
| Lenox | 2025 Q4 | $618,300 | $543,800 | +14% |
| Ludlow | 2025 Q3 | $352,000 | $332,300 | +6% |
| Monson | 2025 Q3 | $350,000 | $348,100 | +1% |
| Montague | 2025 Q3 | $310,000 | $302,800 | +2% |
| North Adams | 2024 Q1 | $156,250 | $191,450 | -18% |
| Northampton | 2025 Q4 | $575,000 | $504,350 | +14% |
| Orange | 2026 Q2 | $320,000 | $299,400 | +7% |
| Palmer | 2025 Q4 | $310,500 | $277,900 | +12% |
| Pittsfield | 2024 Q4 | $278,500 | $256,500 | +9% |
| Sheffield | 2025 Q3 | $432,500 | $396,250 | +9% |
| South Hadley | 2025 Q4 | $360,159 | $366,500 | -2% |
| Southampton | 2025 Q4 | $520,000 | $448,400 | +16% |
| Southwick | 2024 Q4 | $377,500 | $342,800 | +10% |
| Stockbridge | 2025 Q4 | $670,000 | $702,200 | -5% |
| Ware | 2026 Q1 | $305,000 | $311,450 | -2% |
| West Springfield | 2025 Q4 | $339,900 | $328,600 | +3% |
| West Stockbridge | 2025 Q4 | $683,750 | $535,700 | +28% |
| Williamstown | 2025 Q4 | $449,000 | $466,450 | -4% |
The line under each Sales Run is its margin from this table's middle of +5%: left of centre is below it, right of centre is above, and both sides are drawn to the same scale. The middle is this table's own and does not move when you sort. It is a distance, not a position in a league table, and nothing here is ranked.
What These Columns Mean
- Town
- The municipality. Links to its full record. Only towns with at least ten recorded dwelling sales in their latest complete quarter appear.
- Quarter
- The town's own latest complete quarter of recorded deeds. Quarters differ between towns because records do not close together.
- Median Sale
- The median recorded dwelling sale price in that quarter.
- Median Assessment
- The median assessed single family value on the current tax roll.
- Sales Run
- Difference between two separate pools: recorded dwelling sales and the single-family assessment roll. This does not compare individual properties with their own assessments.
Cite: RE413. “Median Recorded Sale Against Median Assessment, Latest Complete Quarter.” Updated November 2, 2026. https://www.re413.com/news/assessed-value-vs-sale-price-massachusetts/, underlying sources at https://www.re413.com/sources/.
The other 63 towns do not have enough verified, comparable figures for this table. That may reflect small samples or gaps in the assessor record; it does not establish a lack of sales.
What This Means for an Abatement, and What It Does Not
If you are weighing a challenge to your own assessment, this table is context, not a case. Median against median says nothing about one parcel; your case is your assessment against recorded sales of houses like yours, from around the valuation date the assessors used, and the window to file is short and statutory.
And sales running ahead of assessments does not mean bills are about to jump by the same amount. The levy is capped; when values rise, rates give back part of the move. What a revaluation changes is each house's share, which is exactly why the comparison that matters is your house against houses like it, not your house against the town.
Sources
- MassGIS standardized parcel data. Recorded deeds and dwelling sale prices, each town's latest complete quarter.
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Division of Local Services. Median assessed single family values on the current roll.
"Figures through" is the period the publisher's data describes; "checked" is only when we last asked. The full sourcing: sources and method.