The Odds of Owning a Home in Massachusetts

Owning property and being able to call your home your own is something many of us dream of. But in a state with one of the least affordable costs of living in the United States, what are your odds of being able to buy a home in Massachusetts, and how do your chances here compare to neighboring states?

While you can't wager on home prices at sportsbooks in Massachusetts, we decided to do our own research. 

To determine your odds of owning property in the Bay State, we considered a series of factors including the state’s income-house value ratio, Massachusetts house price growth, the number of households here per 1,000 people, and the home ownership rate across the state. 

Ranking each state for each factor, we were able to reveal where Massachusetts places among places to purchase property. 

How Easy is it to Buy Property in Massachusetts?

According to our research, with an overall index score of 36.5 out of 100, Massachusetts is among the hardest states to buy property in, ranking sixth bottom ahead of only New Jersey (36.1), Alaska (35.4), New York (32.3), California (18.3), and Hawaii (16.8). That wouldn't make for great odds with operators like Caesars Sportsbook Massachusetts.

Massachusetts’ low ranking is due in part to its unfavorable income-house value rate, 18.95%, the 11th worst of all US states. That places the Bay State just below the likes of Vermont (23.34%), New Hampshire (22.47%), Maine (21.70%), and Rhode Island (20.84%). 

To work this out, we considered the average income across the state ($115,964) and the average house value ($611,819).

Notably, there’s also a scarcity of households per 1,000 Massachusetts residents, with just 371 currently, just below the national average of 374. 

Additionally, Massachusetts has a relatively low rate of home ownership, with just 61.66% of people owning property here, the fifth lowest of all US states.

Finally, house prices across Massachusetts are rising slower than the average rate (58.62%), with the typical property here worth 54.80% more in 2022 than five years ago. This places the state outside the top half, with slower acceleration than Maine (71.50%), New Hampshire (66.70%), and Rhode Island 61.20%), among others.

What are Your Odds of Buying a Home in Massachusetts?

Massachusetts ranks among the toughest states to buy a home, with an overall homeownership rate of just 61.66%, ahead of only Nevada (59.70%), Hawaii (58.30%), California (54.60%), and New York (54.60%).

However, despite this, your chances of becoming a Massachusetts homeowner are generally favorable, with moneyline odds of -161. 

This means, statistically, you’re much more likely to be able to afford property here than not!

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Methodology

To determine the how easy it is to buy property in Massachusetts, we considered four different factors for each U.S. state: 

• Income-house value ratio: The average household income divided by the average house value. 
• House price growth: The percentage increase in price of an average house over the past 5 years. 
• Households per 1,000 people: Calculated by dividing the number of households by the population, and then multiplying by 1,000. 
• Home ownership rate: The percentage of homes in each state that are owner-occupied.

 
Data for these factors was collected and normalized, to give each factor an indexed value between 0 and 1. These values were then summed, to provide a total score out of four for each state. The states were then ranked from highest to lowest based on this score.

To determine your odds of owning a home in Massachusetts, we looked at the home ownership implied percentage and equivalent moneyline odds.