Moving to Holyoke calls for a building-level comparison as much as a town-level one. The public record can show the scale and age of the housing stock and the tax assumptions behind an ownership budget. It cannot tell you how well a particular roof has been maintained, whether a quoted utility expense covers every unit, or whether the layout matches its approvals.
What does the tax illustration help you decide?
Use it to see how a recurring property expense enters the budget. The assessment-based example below applies the recorded residential rate to a typical assessment, including the general community preservation treatment where recorded. A purchase offer is a different number. For a candidate building, obtain the actual tax bill, check the assessment year and ask about exemptions or charges that may not continue for a new owner. Put that evidence beside the financing estimate before deciding what payment you can carry.
Which utility questions belong on the viewing list?
Ask who supplies each service, what the dwelling is actually connected to, and who pays the bills. A recorded sewer system in Holyoke establishes municipal infrastructure, not the condition of a building's private lateral or responsibility for its replacement. In a multi-unit building, determine whether heat and hot water are shared and how expenses are allocated. For any utility estimate, confirm the billing period and whether the property was fully occupied during it.
How should you investigate older buildings?
Start with recorded construction age, then replace assumptions with an inspection and the property's work history. Basement moisture, roof drainage, service access and equipment layout deserve attention because they affect how a building is maintained. Ask specific questions about any converted space and request supporting permits. Chicopee and South Hadley provide useful neighboring comparisons, but their town medians cannot substitute for matching properties of similar size, use and condition. A sound comparison makes the building differences visible before focusing on the place name.
Massachusetts Department of Revenue: determining property values.
What does the local record show?
These towns provide local context for the decision in this article. The figures describe the published records and survey periods identified below. Compare the same measures across places, then confirm the details of any actual home before using them in a budget or offer.
Local Figures for This Decision
Download CSV, same columns, same definitions
Selected municipalities, shown alphabetically. Definitions below distinguish assessments, administrative benchmarks and survey estimates from current market quotes.
| Town | Single-family Assessment | Annual Tax Illustration | Median Year Built | Sewer Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicopee | $287,000 | $4,374 | 1956 | Recorded |
| Holyoke | $262,450 | $4,603 | 1950 | Recorded |
| South Hadley | $366,500 | $4,955 | 1956 | Recorded |
What These Columns Mean
- Town
- Municipality; follow its record below for the full data and address check.
- Single-family Assessment
- Median assessed value of single-family parcels. This is a tax-roll statistic, not an asking price, appraisal or median sale price. Assessment years are identified in the sources.
- Annual Tax Illustration
- The published residential rate applied to the town's median single-family assessment, including the recorded community preservation surcharge and its general first-value exemption where adopted. Individual exemptions, special assessments and a future reassessment can change an actual bill.
- Median Year Built
- Middle recorded construction year of single-family homes in the assessment data. It describes building age, not renovation date, condition, lead status or energy performance.
- Sewer Recorded
- Whether a sewer system is recorded for the municipality. Town-level presence does not establish street coverage, a private connection, available capacity or connection cost.
Cite: RE413. “Local Figures for This Decision.” Updated September 19, 2026. https://www.re413.com/news/living-in-holyoke-ma/, underlying sources at https://www.re413.com/sources/.
Chicopee's town record. Single-family assessment: $287,000. Annual tax illustration: $4,374. Median year built: 1956. Sewer recorded: Recorded.
Holyoke's town record. Single-family assessment: $262,450. Annual tax illustration: $4,603. Median year built: 1950. Sewer recorded: Recorded.
South Hadley's town record. Single-family assessment: $366,500. Annual tax illustration: $4,955. Median year built: 1956. Sewer recorded: Recorded.
How has the published average tax bill changed?
This is the Department of Revenue's published average single-family tax-bill series in nominal dollars. It is a different measure from the current median-assessment illustration above. Changes can reflect the tax levy, assessed values and the housing stock; this is not a forecast of the bill for a home you buy.
Published Average Single-Family Tax Bill
$5,319Fiscal 2026; Holyoke
What should you check next?
- Obtain the property's current assessment, tax bill and an explanation of charges or exemptions.
- Confirm water, sewer, heating and hot-water arrangements for the actual dwelling, including shared equipment and payment responsibility.
- Compare similarly sized and maintained properties across the shortlist, then use inspection findings to price unresolved work.
Keep the address, document date and source alongside each answer. If records disagree, identify which period and property each describes before treating the difference as a change. A missing result leaves a question open; it does not establish that a property has no problem or no cost.
Where can you continue the comparison?
Browse all housing guides by subject.
Open the linked town records for the wider context, including sources and dates. Use the property-specific records to narrow a decision, and keep current quotes separate from the historical figures used to explain it here.
Which official guidance supports this article?
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue: determining property values. Guidance checked 2026-09-05; confirm current requirements for your transaction.
Sources
- MassGIS and municipal assessors. single-family assessment, annual tax illustration, median year built. Figures through Chicopee: FY2026; Holyoke: FY2026; South Hadley: FY2026. Checked 2026-08-21.
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Division of Local Services. annual tax illustration. Figures through Chicopee: FY2026; Holyoke: FY2026; South Hadley: FY2026. Checked 2026-08-05.
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, community preservation records. annual tax illustration. Checked 2026-08-05.
- Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, public sewer systems. sewer recorded. Checked 2026-09-07.
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, historical average single-family tax bills. Published annual mean bills in the chart; nominal dollars, with only common reporting years in a two-town comparison. Figures through FY2010–FY2026. Checked 2026-08-05.
"Figures through" is the period the publisher's data describes; "checked" is only when we last asked. The full sourcing: sources and method.