Published October 4, 2026 in Market Update

Not every part of Dorchester is moving the same way

By Juan Murray

Real estate, Dorchester

JREG reported a Dorchester-wide median sale price of $632,500 on September 2, 2026. That number is real. But it flattens four very different markets into one figure. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 207 homes sold across Dorchester in the three months ending July 31, 2026, and the price spread between ZIP codes was nearly $200,000. If you price off the broad number, you may be starting in the wrong place.

The price gap across Dorchester

The gap between the highest and lowest ZIP code is $183,500. That is not noise. That is the difference between pricing a home correctly and pricing it off a number that does not describe your block.

For context, JREG reported Jamaica Plain's median sale price at $825,000 on September 2, 2026, with 149 homes sold in the trailing 90 days. That puts JP's median above every Dorchester ZIP code in this period. The two neighborhoods share a border, but they are not the same market.

ZIP 02121: prices up sharply, but fewer homes are selling

The Real Estate Data Aggregator put the median sale price in ZIP 02121 at $851,000 for the three months ending July 31, 2026. That is up 26.4% from the same period in 2025. But only 13 homes sold, down 50% from a year before. Fewer sales can push a median up or down fast. Read that 26.4% with that context.

Nearly 7 in 10 homes that sold in ZIP 02121 went above list price. That is a strong signal. But with only 13 sales and 4.5 months of supply, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator, this pocket can shift quickly.

ZIP 02125: more sales, faster pace

ZIP 02125 had the lowest median at $667,500, but it also had the most momentum in volume. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 66 homes sold there in the three months ending July 31, 2026, up 43.5% from the same period in 2025. Median days on market fell 13 days from a year before, to 24 days.

ZIP 02124: the steadiest of the four

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 82 homes sold in ZIP 02124, the highest volume of any Dorchester ZIP code in the three months ending July 31, 2026. The median came in at $778,000, up 7.3% from a year before. The sale-to-list ratio landed exactly at 100%, meaning homes sold at list on average. Not every home went over asking: 37.8% did, down 4 points from 2025.

ZIP 02122: more inventory, more competition for sellers

ZIP 02122 is the one ZIP where the median dipped. The Real Estate Data Aggregator put it at $725,000, down 1.4% from the same period in 2025. Homes for sale rose 41.7% year over year, to 51. More supply with a softer median means buyers have more options here than in the other three ZIPs. Sellers need to price carefully.

How the four ZIP codes compare side by side

What the national picture adds

The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that U.S. house prices rose 2.6% from July 2025 to July 2026. Dorchester's ZIP codes are running ahead of that in three of four cases. Realtor.com reported that mortgage rates climbed above 7% for the first time since January 2025, and that 20.8% of listings nationally took a price cut in September, the highest share since October 2022. Those are national figures. They do not describe any one Dorchester block. But they are the backdrop buyers and sellers are working within.