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PITTSFIELD – Berkshire County’s housing market saw a lot of flux in 2025, with market conditions still favoring sellers. Could a more even housing market return in 2026?
The Eagle asked Sandy Carroll, the CEO for the Berkshire County Board of Realtors, what buyers and sellers can expect, how Massachusetts’ push to build housing has affected the market and whether the county market is still favoring sellers.
Since COVID-19, the housing market has decidedly been more favorable for sellers because low interest rates led to a flurry of home transactions. Buyers were paying more than asking price – in cash – to make their offers more enticing.
These factors and more contributed to one of the most uneven markets in recent memory.
While there was a turn towards an even housing market in 2025, experts were still hesitant to declare that had arrived. However, increasing inventory and homes staying on the market longer were promising trends that should carry into 2026.
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Carroll laid out exactly what Berkshire residents can expect in the housing world this year.
The Eagle has lightly edited and trimmed answers for clarity and conciseness.
THE EAGLE: How is the housing market looking in the first month of 2026? Anything surprising?
CARROLL: One of the things that was a little bit different … is that our residential sales were down, but our condo and multifamily were actually stronger. So we had actually good, you know, rising markets in those two areas. … Interest rates creeped down a bit, so we’re at 6 percent, in the low 6 percent range, which is I think where they’re predicting, it’s going to stay for the year. And so we think that’ll open up more buyer opportunities.
THE EAGLE: Since COVID, the housing market has been tipped towards sellers. Can 2026 be the year things even out?
CARROLL: I think that what every economist has said, and even local realtors, they feel like it’s normalizing. There’s all these words that I keep hearing over and over, whether it’s local or nationally, and it’s stabilizing, you know, balancing, it’s all of that where it’s shifting back. Now, that doesn’t mean it’s shifting back to be a buyer’s market. You know, the pendulum isn’t swinging that far and that fast, but it’s coming back into a more balanced market after those COVID years, and it’s been needed.
THE EAGLE: What can people buying a home expect to see?
CARROLL: Buyers should have a little bit more options, [more[ opportunities, because the inventory is expected to increase, and we’ve already seen that happening. Year over year, we have an extra hundred properties that are in flux on the market. And I think that that’s going to help them have a little less urgency.
When a house hits a market, they’re able to be a little bit more thoughtful and negotiate. But, unfortunately, affordability is always a challenge for buyers."
THE EAGLE: What will sellers expect to see?
CARROLL: Pricing their home correctly is probably going to be the most important thing that they can do, trying to understand that market and just being well prepared to negotiate and understanding from their Realtor how to do that. The frenzy is not there for selling.
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THE EAGLE: The Healey administration is doing a lot to spur housing production these past few years. Are we going to see the effects of those changes in 2026?
CARROLL: [The market] is not going to turn on the dime, and we shouldn’t expect it to. These policies are taking time, and they’re taking time to even implement locally and to see change. I don’t think that they’re, at least from what we’re seeing, shifting immediately, but shifts are expected.
THE EAGLE: Is there anything else to expect from the 2026 housing market?
CARROLL: I think it’s going to be a stabilization. I love those words about balance because I do think that that’s what we’re going to see. You know, a more healthy balance is always a good thing. We don’t like to see it in one direction, a seller-driven market or a buyer-driven market, for the market’s sake.
And so to see some more balance and to see more inventory coming on is going to be a huge, huge benefit to our market.
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