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Westwood, originally called ‘West Dedham’, is situated at the junction of Route 95/128 and 93 and provides an excellent location for its residents with easy access to Boston (12 miles to the northeast); and yet with all the elements of a beautiful suburban community. Take a closer look at this beautiful, busting little town of Westwood and you will see a town that puts children and education on the list of top priorities, a place where people are friendly, shopping is plentiful, and living is good. In fact, Boston Magazine listed Gay Street in Westwood on its list of the Best Streets in the Boston area. CNN Money (2005) also listed Westwood 13th on its list of 100 best places to live in the U.S. Close enough to Boston so that you can enjoy all the culture and experiences you’d ever want, but far enough away from big city life so that small-town living is possible.

University Station

Westwood is home to over two hundred businesses in established commercial areas, each varied in character. Currently, Westwood has recently redeveloped the University Avenue mixed use overlay district to include a 4.3 million square foot retail, office and residential area, conveniently located near the Westwood Station train. The highway business district, Route 1, is comprised of larger retail and service establishments as well as corporate offices. The shopping areas of High Street and Islington’s Washington Street provide retail services for residents that enhance the quality of life in town. Residents and businesses are served by first-rate town services, with water from the Dedham Westwood Water District, sewer services from the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority, electricity from NSTAR and natural gas from Algonquin Gas.

Transportation in Westwood

For folks who prefer to commute via public transit, Westwood has two commuter rail lines plus full MBTA bus service on Routes 1 and 1A (Washington Street). Commuter rail service from Boston’s South Station has the Route 128 station on its Providence/Stoughton Line, and the Islington station on its Franklin Line. Amtrak trains to Providence, New Haven, New York City and Washington DC also stop at the Route 128 station. There is ample parking in its garage.

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.

Education in Westwood

Westwood is most recognized for the quality of its schools, which helps give this beautiful hamlet the reputation of being perfect for raising a family. Students consistently score in the top percentiles on national tests and the majority of students graduating from the high school go on to higher education. There are 5 elementary schools along with 1 middle and 1 high schools in the Westwood Public School district. Please do not automatically assume that your child(ren) will ride the bus to school. Please take advantage of the School Finder and determine which elementary school you children will attend! Next, check the bus schedule for that school. The high school facilities include a new multi-use artificial turf field with a synthetic track, both of which are open to the public! Westwood is also home to Xaverian Brothers High School, a Catholic prep school for boys, a Montessori school, and a pre-school.

Westwood Recreation

The Town also encourages and maintains many recreational areas and facilities, including numerous conservation areas, playgrounds, ball fields, tennis courts, and an indoor pool facility. The Town has two libraries, a senior center and numerous community-sponsored events for the Town’s residents. There is a golf course, but it requires membership. You can hike or fish in Westwood at the Hale Reservation.

Government Services

Want to know what information the town has on a certain property? Access tax info and the Assessor’s property database here. If you are concerned about what the zoning is behind or near your proposed home, check the zoning map. You will get a kick out of this nifty map of Westwood and everything it shows.

Except for a couple of dozen or sales of condominiums, the rest of the sales are primarily single-family homes. Single family have seen prices running from $350,000 for tear-downs and foreclosures to $8,000,000 for large estates, while the condominium and townhouse sales have been running from $450,000 for a small, older 1 bedroom to $1,000,000 for a large, new-construction townhouse.

As you can see, pricing varies depending upon size, location, and amenities. Real estate sales and pricing 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 activity and compares the ups and downs of Westwood to those 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 Westwood, while 2013 was a great year for sellers. Although the graphic below indicates a weakening seller’s market for Boston, Westwood just had its best year in 17 years.

This next chart shows the number of sales occurring in Cambridge 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.

Search Westwood Real Estate

This is Westwood’s best real estate site to search for: homes, condos, multi-families, land and foreclosure properties. Bookmark this page and check back anytime to see what is currently available in Westwood. Unlike other search sites which includes properties already under contract, this site only shows properties that are truly available. Additionally, you can pick which type of housing – single-family, condo, or multi-family – you are interested in seeing at a glance. *** If you should see some properties listed twice it is because brokers like to list a condo/townhome as a condo plus as a single-family house, or list a dilapidated house as land, as well as a residence.