What you are buying into
Haverhill gives you more house for the money than most towns on the Boston side of I-495, and it comes with two commuter rail stations on the Haverhill Line and five I-495 exits. As of May 2026 the median sale price is $465,000, most homes sell between $370,000 and $580,000, and it is a seller's market with homes averaging 30 days on market.
The choices are wider than in most neighboring towns. Downtown you can buy a loft-style condo inside a converted 1880s shoe factory on Washington Street. In the Highlands there are Victorians, some divided into condos or units. Bradford, south of the river, has bungalows and four squares on established streets. The outer parts of the city have capes, split-levels and colonials with real yards. Multi-family houses come up across the city too, and Liriano Realty helps a lot of first-time buyers look at a two-family as a way in.
Competition and how to win an offer
In this market, expect that a well-priced house gets multiple showings in its first week and may have offers before the second weekend. The well-priced ones go over asking and the overpriced ones sit.
Before you look, get a full pre-approval (a pre-qualification carries less weight) from a lender who will pick up the phone on a Saturday. Decide your true ceiling before you tour. Keep the offer clean: a realistic closing date, an earnest money deposit that shows you are serious, the pre-approval letter attached, and as few contingencies as you can responsibly live with. Your Liriano Realty agent will pull recent sales on the same street so your number comes from what actually closed.
Financing notes for Haverhill
Massachusetts has state programs for buyers through MassHousing, including loan products aimed at first-time buyers, and a Haverhill purchase is eligible the same way any Massachusetts purchase is. Ask us and we will connect you with a lender who works those programs every week.
Condo buyers should know that lenders review the condo association as well as the borrower. In the factory conversions downtown, that means reserves, owner-occupancy and any pending special assessments get looked at. Ask for the association documents early. For multi-family purchases, rent from the other unit may count toward qualifying, which is one reason a two-family in Haverhill can be within reach when a single-family is not.
For fiscal year 2026 Haverhill's residential tax rate is $10.61 per $1,000 of assessed value, commercial property pays $19.17, and because the city resets the rate every year, confirm the current figure with the assessor's office when you make an offer.
Inspections on Haverhill housing
A lot of what sells here was built before 1940, and the Victorians in the Highlands and the four squares in Bradford are older than that. Plan on a full home inspection and read it as a list of what to budget for. Common items in this housing stock: knob-and-tube or other older wiring, cast iron drain lines, original windows, older roofs, and basements that see water in a wet spring. In the converted factories, ask about the building envelope, any elevator and the common heating systems, since those are shared costs.
On a multi-family, walk every unit, look at every electrical panel, and get copies of current leases. Liriano Realty agents have been through enough of these houses to tell you which findings are normal for the age and which ones should change your number.
Why Liriano Realty in Haverhill
Our office is at 240 Pleasant St Unit: 10, Methuen, MA 01844, one town west on Route 110, and broker and owner Jefri Liriano and our agents show Haverhill property every week. Everything we do is available in English or Spanish, from the first call through the closing table, and that includes reading the inspection report and the purchase and sale agreement with you in the language you think in.
Start with the Haverhill town page for the neighborhoods and the commute, then contact us or call (617) 685-1515 when you are ready to see something.