A Lenox housing search should start with a clear occupancy plan. Living in a home throughout the year creates a different routine from visiting for a season, and both require a realistic maintenance arrangement. Public records help describe the housing stock and recurring tax assumptions. They do not establish the availability or terms of a property offered today.
How should seasonal housing data be used?
Read the vacancy rate together with the share of vacant homes classified for seasonal, recreational or occasional use. These are historical census measures. They do not count current homes for sale or available year-round rentals. A high or low vacancy figure alone cannot tell you how difficult a current search will be. Use it as context while checking actual listings and agreements for the dates, occupancy and services you need.
What does an older building require from the budget?
The relevant evidence is its maintenance history and inspection, not simply the year recorded on the assessment roll. Request documents for major systems and ask about work that will soon be necessary. If architectural changes are important to the plan, identify any applicable local historic review or other approvals before assuming the work can proceed. Keep those project questions separate from the building's existing assessed value. The ability to buy a property does not automatically fund the improvements you hope to make.
How do Lee and Pittsfield help test the decision?
Compare actual homes that meet the same occupancy and condition requirements. The town medians below represent different housing stocks and do not measure a simple location premium on identical houses. Add current taxes, insurance, utilities and maintenance obligations, then test the household's regular routes. If the property will be unoccupied for periods, clarify insurance conditions and arrange upkeep. A year-round cost comparison should include the months when the home is used less as well as the months when it is used most.
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 | Vacant / Seasonal Share | Median Year Built |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee | $371,350 | $4,208 | 23.7% vacant; 74.7% of vacancies seasonal | 1960 |
| Lenox | $543,800 | $5,488 | 23.7% vacant; 71.9% of vacancies seasonal | 1959 |
| Pittsfield | $256,500 | $4,516 | 9.3% vacant; 25.2% of vacancies seasonal | 1950 |
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.
- Vacant / Seasonal Share
- First: vacant units as a share of all housing units in the 2020 census. Second: seasonal, recreational or occasional-use units as a share of vacant units. Neither number is a current rental availability rate.
- 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.
Cite: RE413. “Local Figures for This Decision.” Updated September 19, 2026. https://www.re413.com/news/living-in-lenox-ma/, underlying sources at https://www.re413.com/sources/.
Lee's town record. Single-family assessment: $371,350. Annual tax illustration: $4,208. Vacant / seasonal share: 23.7% vacant; 74.7% of vacancies seasonal. Median year built: 1960.
Lenox's town record. Single-family assessment: $543,800. Annual tax illustration: $5,488. Vacant / seasonal share: 23.7% vacant; 71.9% of vacancies seasonal. Median year built: 1959.
Pittsfield's town record. Single-family assessment: $256,500. Annual tax illustration: $4,516. Vacant / seasonal share: 9.3% vacant; 25.2% of vacancies seasonal. Median year built: 1950.
Vacant housing includes seasonal and other unavailable units. The seasonal share uses vacant homes as its denominator, while the vacancy rate uses all housing units. A larger vacancy percentage therefore does not establish that more homes can be rented or bought today.
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
$6,621Fiscal 2026; Lenox
What should you check next?
- Establish whether the property and agreement support your intended year-round or occasional occupancy.
- Read seasonal vacancy alongside the overall vacancy rate and check present availability independently.
- Review building work, applicable approvals and recurring bills for comparable Lenox, Lee and Pittsfield homes.
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 Lee: FY2026; Lenox: FY2026; Pittsfield: FY2025. Checked 2026-08-21.
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Division of Local Services. annual tax illustration. Figures through Lee: FY2026; Lenox: FY2026; Pittsfield: FY2026. Checked 2026-08-05.
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, community preservation records. annual tax illustration. Checked 2026-08-05.
- U.S. Census Bureau, decennial housing counts. vacant / seasonal share. Figures through 2020 census. Checked 2026-08-03.
- 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.