How much can a price trend tell you when it rests on six sales?
That was Mission Hill's whole condo market through September 2026, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors' Local Market Update. Six closings in nine months. Meanwhile, three projects that are approved, proposed or under construction in the neighborhood add up to more than three hundred homes. Most of them are rentals. The main for-sale project is a 13-story building on Huntington Avenue, and about half of its condos are income-restricted. Under Boston's typical terms for income-restricted ownership units, an owner cannot lease the unit out. If you're comparing Mission Hill with other Boston neighborhoods, look at those two facts together, because the median alone won't tell you much.
Six Closings Don't Make a Trend
Here is MAR's year-to-date condo snapshot for Mission Hill, comparing January through September of each year.
| Condo metric, Jan–Sept | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closed sales | 5 | 6 | +20.0% |
| Median sales price | $860,000 | $627,500 | −27.0% |
| Cumulative days on market | 25 | 39 | +56.0% |
| Percent of original list price received | 99.1% | 94.8% | −4.3% |
| New listings | 9 | 14 | +55.6% |
A 27% drop in the median looks like a crash. With five sales on one side and six on the other, it mostly tells you which units happened to sell. The year's median moves if one larger unit closes or if one doesn't. MAR prints its own warning under the table: "Activity for one month can sometimes look extreme due to small sample size."
The month-to-month numbers show how thin the market is. In August 2026, MAR recorded two condo closings at a $612,500 median, with nothing for sale at month's end. In September 2026 there was one closing, at $605,000. It sold after 60 cumulative days on market at 89.6% of its original list price, and three condos were for sale when the month ended. Citywide in September 2026, Boston recorded 242 condo sales at a $777,500 median, up 9.6% from a year earlier.
The year-to-date signals that do hold up are about time and negotiation, not price. New listings rose from 9 to 14, days on market stretched from 25 to 39, and sellers received a smaller share of their original asking price. With this few sales, even those figures can swing on one or two listings. Still, they line up with each other. Buyers in 2026 had more listings to pick from and more time to decide than buyers in 2025. When three listings count as a busy month, the price of one sale says more about that unit than about the neighborhood.
The Pipeline Is Filling the Rental Side
Most of the homes in the Mission Hill projects that moved through review in 2026 are rentals, and only one project adds condos.
- 85 Parker Hill Ave. Savage Properties is converting a former nursing school and dorm into apartments. Universal Hub reported that the Zoning Board of Appeal unanimously approved the plan on September 22, 2026. The plan has 103 apartments, including eight affordable three-bedroom units, and 11 parking spaces. Boston Planning's board approved it earlier, in July. An August Mission Hill Gazette account put the unit count at 114. The approved plan reported in September is the 103-unit version.
- Ward Street Senior Housing, 69 McGreevey Way. The Mission Main Tenant Task Force and WinnDevelopment have proposed a 110-unit, 100% affordable building for residents 62 and older, with rents capped at 30% of income. The Gazette covered the September 15 public meeting. On Boston Planning's project timeline, the comment period closed September 23. The project is still in review.
- 775 Huntington Ave. This one also has rentals, 57 units restricted to 80% of area median income on the lower floors. It is also the only project in the group that adds condos.
Taken together, these projects shape the next several years of new supply. Rental apartments and senior housing account for most of the new homes. The for-sale side depends almost entirely on one building.
775 Huntington Is Where New Ownership Comes From
Roxbury Tenants of Harvard is a resident-controlled nonprofit that already provides more than 1,000 homes in Mission Hill. It is building a 13-story mixed-income tower at 761–775 Huntington Ave. Eastern Bank announced on March 12, 2026 that it is lead lender on a $68.6 million construction financing package covering the rental and ownership portions. The ownership portion is split this way:
- 55 condominiums on the upper floors, the for-sale component.
- 27 of those condos are income-restricted at 80%, 100% and 120% of area median income.
- 28 condos are unrestricted, market-rate units.
The Boston Business Journal reported construction underway in December 2025. Dimeo, the general contractor, lists the job at 30 months to complete. The city's ownership project page lists completion as "To Be Determined." Condo pricing and a lottery schedule for the restricted units have not been posted.
The scale stands out against the resale numbers. In nine months of 2026, Mission Hill had six condo closings. This one building will deliver 55 condos at once, and 27 of them are income-restricted. The rest of the neighborhood's resale stock carries no such restriction.
The Rules That Travel With the Restricted Deeds
The city publishes these rules in its Housing Compliance and Asset Management FAQ. The FAQ covers Boston's Inclusionary Housing ownership units and describes the terms that typically come with them. The binding terms for any one unit are in that unit's own deed restriction, and the deed terms for 775 Huntington's restricted condos haven't been published yet. Until they are, treat the city's typical terms as a guide to what buyers of those condos can expect, not a description of their actual deeds.
The restriction is long. Restrictions vary but "typically are effective for 50 years from the date the unit was created." The terms bind every later buyer of the unit, not just the first owner.
The resale price has a ceiling. Each unit has a maximum resale price set by a formula in its deed restriction. The city says it is usually the original purchase price increased by 3% to 5% compounded annually, plus credit for capital improvements, and some formulas allow for broker fees. The city adds that the maximum "is not a guaranteed sale price." At 3% a year, the ceiling ends up about 34% above the purchase price after ten years. At 5%, it's about 63%. Every resale also has to go to a buyer the city has certified as eligible, at or below that ceiling.
The unit cannot be rented. For Inclusionary Housing units, the city's FAQ is direct on it:
"Inclusionary Housing unit owners are not permitted to rent or sublease all or part of their units for any length of time, including through short-term rental services such as AirBNB... The units are not intended to be investment properties."
Owners must keep the unit as their principal residence. An owner who moves has to sell, and the city lists a forced sale as a possible penalty for violations.
Borrowing is capped too. The FAQ says owners can typically refinance for up to 95% of the unit's maximum resale price. They must contact Inclusionary Housing Compliance before refinancing or opening a home equity line of credit, because the Boston Planning and Development Agency holds a performance mortgage on most restricted units.
Some rules work in the owner's favor. Owners don't have to stay under the income limit after they buy, so a raise doesn't force a sale. Property taxes are based on the unit's "affordable value," not its market value.
This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Anyone considering a restricted unit should go over the specific deed rider with their own attorney and lender.
What This Means If You're Comparing Mission Hill Right Now
Treat the neighborhood median as a rough range. September 2026 had one condo sale, and the year to date had six. To judge a specific unit, compare it with the few sales most like it, adjusting for size, parking and building, and set the year-over-year headline aside.
Use the softer terms that do show up in the 2026 data. Days on market rose and sellers got a smaller share of their original asking price, which leaves more room for negotiation and inspection contingencies than a 99.1% list-price year did.
Know which new units you're actually competing for. Most of the planned homes on Parker Hill Avenue and Ward Street are rentals. At 775 Huntington, the 28 market-rate condos will trade like any other Boston condo once they're priced. The 27 restricted condos will follow whatever their deed restrictions set out. Boston's typical terms above show what kinds of occupancy, refinancing and resale limits to look for once those deeds are published.
FAQ
Did Mission Hill condo prices fall 27% in 2026? MAR's year-to-date median fell from $860,000 to $627,500 through September 2026. That comparison rests on five sales in 2025 and six in 2026, so it reflects which units sold more than a neighborhood-wide price change.
When will the 775 Huntington condos be available? The city lists completion as "To Be Determined," and pricing has not been released. The 27 restricted units are income-restricted at 80%, 100% and 120% of area median income, and the other 28 are market-rate.
Could an investor buy one of the restricted units and rent it out? The answer depends on the deed terms for 775 Huntington, which haven't been published. For Boston's Inclusionary Housing ownership units, the city's compliance FAQ says units must be owner-occupied at all times and cannot be rented or sublet, including as short-term rentals.
When a market has a few sales a year, pricing a Mission Hill condo means working from the right comparable sales, not the headline median. Mission Realty Advisors prices Mission Hill listings from the handful of truly comparable sales and plans each launch for a market this thin. Request a Market Strategy & Home Valuation before you list or make an offer.