Housing in Newton, MA

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Brief Synopsis

Newton is an affluent suburban city, boasting well-maintained parks, bicycle and fitness trails, golf courses, a public pool, and even a lake. Being well-served by mass transit and major traffic arteries, Newton’s proximity to Boston along with its great public schools and safe, quiet neighborhoods, make it a very desirable home for those who commute to Boston or work in Newton’s businesses and industries. Newton is the 11th largest community in Massachusetts. The presence of pre-World War II architecture makes it one of the older and more historic cities in the country and among the most expensive in Massachusetts. Decidedly a white-collar city, Newton’s homeowners consist mainly of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. Communities populated with such college-educated citizenry naturally host an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties – exactly what you want in an area to raise your children. Newton is a large city by land area but locals think of it as “the town of Newton” because it feels like a village. Real estate here boasts so many flowers and so much green space that Newton has been dubbed the “Garden City.”

Where is Newton?

Newton is approximately 7 miles from downtown Boston, in Middlesex County. The city is bordered by Waltham and Watertown on the north, Needham and the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston on the south, Wellesley and Weston on the west, and Brookline and the Brighton neighborhood of Boston on the east. From Watertown to Waltham to Needham and Dedham, Newton is bounded by the Charles River. The Yankee Division Highway, or I-95 (but known to the locals as Route 128), follows the Charles from Waltham to Dedham, creating a de facto land barrier. Excellent transportation providedby the MBTA: commuter rail, subway, and bus service, shuttles you quickly to Boston. Route 128/I-95 and the Mass Turnpike provide major thoroughfares… as well as historic Route 9 that stretches from Copley Square in Boston to Western Mass.

The Thirteen Villages of Newton

Newton is a patchwork of thirteen villages boasting small “downtown”, pedestrian-friendly shopping districts of independent restaurants, distinctive shops, neighborhood services, professional offices, places of worship, cultural organizations, parks, playgrounds, civic buildings (post offices of their own) and, in many cases, transit stations with direct service to downtown Boston; and yet, having no legal, firmly defined borders. Since these villages span from south of Hwy 9 to north of I-90, there are disparities of values in housing throughout Newton; therefore, you cannot simply say that properties are selling for X dollars per square foot in Newton. If you scroll to the bottom of this page, you will see all the available listings in all of Newton. However, if you use the search box above, you can confine the search to a certain price range. Important note: since there are no legally defined boundaries to the villages and that they are, in fact, subjective, many brokers who are not the least bit familiar with the villages, neglect to classify their listings by village area. Another conundrum for brokers is that some villages cross zip code lines! Therefore, there is no precise way to narrow down available homes just by village. Your best bet is to click on the village of your choice below which will enable you to view just those listings in that particular area/zip code.

• Auburndale – 02466
• Chestnut Hill – 02467
• Newton Corner, Nonantum – 02458
• Newton Highlands – 02461
• Newton Lower Falls – 02462
• Newton Upper Falls – 02464
• Newtonville – 02460
• Oak Hill/Thompsonville/Newton Centre – 02459
• Waban – 02468
• West Newton – 02465

For your convenience, here is a list of bus routes that criss cross through Newton: 52, 57, 59, 60, 170, 505, 553, 554, 556, and 558.

Activities in Newton

From July through October, you can enjoy the outdoor Farmer’s Market or visit Norumbega Park in Auburndale – a beautiful expanse of paths, trails, and stunning scenery. Get together with friends or co-workers at Newton’s country clubs and golf courses: Woodland Country Club, Charles River Country Club, and Brae Burn Country Club. Newton also sports 3 public golf courses including Putterham on the Brookline line, the 9-hole Commonwealth course near Boston College and the Leo J. Martin course on the Weston line. If you like classical music, Newton has two symphony orchestras – the New Philharmonia Orchestra of Massachusetts and the Newton Symphony Orchestra, an ensemble of 70 volunteer musicians and featured soloists from around the world.

My wife and I head over to Cold Spring Park if we want to take our dogs out for a leash-free run, or for a spin in a kayak or canoe we head over to Nahanton Park or to the Boating House in Auburndale. Crystal Lake offers swimming programs for all residents. Newton is the site of the challenging “heartbreak hill” of the Patriot’s Day Marathon if you enjoy running.

Education in Newton

There are ample pre-schools and private schools serving Newton in addition to its public school district. Find here which school is assigned to the home you are contemplating buying, as well as its precinct and other municipal info.

Newton public schools are rated among the top in the state. To serve its large geographic area and student population, there are 3 high schools (Newton South, Newton Central, and Newton North), 4 middle schools (Bigelow, Brown, F.A. Day, and Oak Hill) and 15 elementary schools (Angier, Bowen, Burr, Cabot, Countryside, Franklin, Horace Mann, Lincoln-Eliot, Mason-Rice, Memorial Spalding, Peirce, Underwood, Ward, Williams, and Zervas). Bus schedules, fees, and FAQ’s are posted here.

Institues of higher learning located in Newton include Boston College, Lasell College, Mount Ida College and Pine Manor College, specialty schools like William James College, and private schools including: Newton Country Day School, Mount Alvernia Academy, Mount Alvernia High School, Beaver Country Day School, and St Joseph’s Preparatory High School.

General Information

Access Newton’s official website to learn about its governing body and policies. Important note: Newton has an overnight parking ban in the winter. The night parking ban usually begins after talk of the first snowflake’s arrival – typically Nov. 15 and ends on Apr. 15. Any vehicle parked for more than 1 hour between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., can expect a ticket with a $25.00 fine. Narrow streets, parked cars, and snow make it difficult for emergency vehicles to get where they might need to go.

It is always wise to check if there is reported criminal activity in the area in which you plan to live. To keep up with daily goings on, in general, you can check in online with the Newton Tab, The Patch, Topix, or, of course, the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald.

If you have a specific property already in mind that you think you might like to buy, the City of Newton maintains a database for the City Assessor which you can access to see what value the City gives the property or click here to see what its annual taxes are.

Area Schools

Great Schools provides ratings for most schools in the United States. Below, you can see what schools are near the address you are thinking of buying and then compare it to other neighboring schools.

Single family homes in Newton have been running from $649,000 to $10,950,000 while condominiums have been running from $389,000 to $2,100,000. Pricing varies depending upon size, location, and amenities. Real estate markets are very fluid and can fluctuate in a matter of hours because homes come on and off the market daily… even hourly. What is currently offered for sale is listed below. The following chart is a visual representation of the cyclical nature of real estate and compares the ups and downs of Newton to the ups and downs of Boston proper. The taller the column the better it is for buyers. The shorter the column the better it is for sellers. Hence 2006 was the best time for a buyer to buy in Newton, while generally speaking, 2013-2023 were great years for sellers.

This next chart shows the number of sales occurring in Newton month-to-month, year-to-year since 2018 and provides you a historical overview of the best times to sell – months with the greatest number of sales (spring and fall) – and the best times to buy – months with the fewest number of sales (summer and winter). CAVEAT: there are usually more houses to choose from in the first half of the year.