Why Does Redfin Show Hingham Prices Down While Price per Square Foot Rises? Reading the Medians and the Rise in Asking Prices

Did Hingham prices rise or fall?

The pages point in different directions. Redfin's headline is a median of $1,588,948, down 2.2%. The brokerage's second-quarter report shows a median of $1,512,500, up from $1,482,500 a year earlier, which is 2.0%, a figure this brief computes. Its July article says the 2026 figure is up from $1,410,000, which is 7.27%, and the two articles put the same median at $1,512,500 against two different prior-year figures, $1,482,500 for the second quarter and $1,410,000 for the year to date. Zillow's average home value is up 8.5%. A seller can read a fall of 2.2%, a rise of 2.0%, a rise of 7.3% or a rise of 8.5%, and each is a correct statement of a different measure.

The Redfin page contradicts itself in a second way. It gives the number of homes sold in August as 25, up 29.6% year over year, and in the text says there were 25 homes sold in August this year, up from 19 last year. A rise from 19 to 25 is 31.6%, a figure this brief computes, so the 29.6% does not match the page's own counts. The gap is small and the page does not explain it, but it is a reason to treat the page's year-over-year figures with care. The 25 sales are also a small sample for a three-month median, which the page applies to all home types.

The price per square foot is the strangest figure. The same page says the median price is down 2.2% and the price per square foot is up 17.9%. Both can hold if the homes that sold were smaller or older, or if the two figures cover different windows, but the page does not say which. The South Shore report gives $584.74 per square foot for the six months to June 2, and Redfin's $616 is 5.3% above that, computed here. A rise of 17.9% in the rate would put the figure a year earlier near $522, an inference from the page's two numbers that no page states.

The first-quarter figures show how the mix moves a median. The second-quarter report says the first-quarter median sale price was $1,700,000, up 31.4% from $1,293,500, and calls it a reflection of which price segments were transacting early in the year and not a signal of runaway appreciation. The report shows 31 sales in the first quarter against 44 a year earlier, and 58 in each second quarter. A market with 58 sales a quarter has a median that a few large closings can move by hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is why the pages differ.

Sources as cited. The measures, areas and periods differ and the figures are not directly comparable. Commercial content; not independently verified.

Are Hingham sellers asking too much?

The brokerage's July article says that Hingham's median original list price is up 15.08% to $1,725,000 from $1,499,000, while the median sale price rose 7.27%, and it calls the gap one that costs some sellers time on the market. The two figures check out, since $1,725,000 over $1,499,000 is 15.08% and $1,512,500 over $1,410,000 is 7.27%. The asking rise is 2.1 times the sale rise, a ratio this brief computes. The median original list price is $212,500 above the median sale price, which is 14.0% of the sale price, also computed here.

The article explains the gap as sellers anchoring to last year's headlines and agents without local data, and says these are things likely happening, which is the author's reading and not a measurement. The same article adds that listings with a price change are down 28.81% on the year, from 59 to 42, and that days on market fell to 18 from 19, so the market is not punishing overpricing with long stagnation. A reader should note that the article then warns that overpricing can slow a start and that buyers remember an original price after a reduction. Both statements come from one page, and no page gives the share of Hingham listings that sold below their opening ask.

The second-quarter report points the same way from a different angle. It shows price reductions of 21 in the second quarter against 27 a year earlier, a fall of 22.2%, a figure this brief computes, and a sale-to-list ratio of 100.19% against 100.00%. A ratio near 100% means the median home sold close to the price at which it was last listed, which can include a reduced price. The page does not say whether the ratio is measured against the original list price or the last list price, and the July article's gap between original asking and sale suggests the two differ.

The pages also show how the list price travels. The second-quarter report says the highest-priced active listing in Hingham is $11,750,000 against $5,999,000 a year earlier, and that total active market volume grew to $143.2 million from $120.3 million. A single listing at nearly twice last year's top asking price moves the volume and the average asking price without telling a seller anything about a typical home. The median is the steadier statistic, and the article's median original list price is the figure that rose by 15.08%.

How fast do Hingham homes sell, and what happens above $2.5 million?

The clocks run from 6 days to 88. The second-quarter report gives a median of 6 days to an offer, down from 9, and 17 median days on market for sold homes, down from 22. The July article says days on market fell to 18 from 19. The South Shore report gives 21 days. Redfin gives 20, up 4 days from 16 a year earlier, and calls the market very competitive with homes going pending in around 20 days. Zillow gives about 16 days to pending. The ranges are close, from 16 to 21 days for the typical sale, and they differ in direction, since the brokerage says faster and Redfin says slower.

The price bands in the second-quarter report show where the speed ends. Homes from $1 million to $1.5 million had 18 sales averaging 19 days on market, at 105% of list price. From $1.5 million to $2 million there were 9 sales averaging 16 days at 111%. From $2 million to $2.5 million there were 11 sales averaging 18 days at 105%. From $2.5 million to $3 million there were 6 sales averaging 81 days at 100%, and from $3 million to $4 million 5 sales averaging 88 days at 96%. The 81 days is 4.8 times the 17-day median and the 88 is 5.2 times, ratios this brief computes.

The bands do not add up to the headline. They cover 49 of the 58 sales. Weighted by sales, the bands average about 104.6% of list, a figure this brief computes, while the headline is 100.19%. For the other nine sales to bring the average down to 100.19%, they would have to average about 76% of list, which is implausible, and the page says nothing about sales below $1 million. The headline may be a median and the band figures averages, or the bands may use a different base, and the page does not say. A seller should read the band figures as the page's own description of its own sales and not as a reconciled set.

The report's own advice is that luxury buyers above $3 million have more room to negotiate and more time than a year ago. That is the brokerage's reading of five sales between $3 million and $4 million, and six between $2.5 million and $3 million. It is a small sample, and no page gives sales above $4 million. For an owner of a home in that range, the evidence on these pages is that days on market run to months and sale prices come in at or below the last asking price.

Source: local brokerage second-quarter report, single-family sales. Commercial content; the bands cover 49 of 58 sales and are not independently verified.

What does the Census say about the age and tenure of the homes?

The Census postal area that includes Hingham has 10,144 housing units. Of those, 1,981 were built in 1939 or earlier, 19.5% of the total, 1,761 in the 2000s, 17.4%, and 1,173 in the 2010s, 11.6%. Homes built before 1980 number 5,543, or 54.6%, and 139 were built in 2020 or later. The median year built is 1976. A seller in this postal area owns a house that is, in the typical case, fifty years old, with a large block of homes that are more than eighty.

Ownership runs deep, with recent arrivals. Of 9,689 occupied homes, 7,816 are owner-occupied, 80.7%, and 1,873 are rented, 19.3%. Among owners, 2,968 moved in during the 2010s, 38.0%, and 774 moved in from 2020 on, 9.9%. Owners who arrived since 2010 number 3,742, or 47.9%, and owners who arrived before 2000 number 2,320, or 29.7%, all computed here. Among renters, 712 of 1,873 moved in from 2020 on, 38.0%.

The Census median owner-occupied value is $1,134,200, with a margin of error of $46,731, and the median rent is $2,465 a month. The value is owners' own estimate of what their homes would sell for, collected over five years. It is 75.0% of the $1,512,500 brokerage median, 71.4% of Redfin's $1,588,948 and 83.9% of Zillow's $1,352,390, all computed here. The Census median household income is $178,390.

The vacancy figures are small. Of 10,144 housing units, 455 are vacant, 4.5%. Of those, 197 are in the other category, 154 are held for seasonal, recreational or occasional use, 45 are rented and not yet occupied, 43 are sold and not yet occupied and 16 are for sale. Seasonal homes are 1.5% of all units. The 16 for-sale units sit beside 54 active single-family listings in the brokerage's second-quarter report. The survey figures are five-year averages, so the two counts do not measure the same day. Readers comparing markets can also read the Lexington brief and the Wellesley Center brief.

Source: Census Reporter, American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates, tables B25034, B25038, B25004, B25077, B25003, B25002, B25064 and B19013. Percentages and ratios are this brief's arithmetic.

What should an owner ask, and what does a private sale change?

The first question is the price tier. The brokerage's bands show homes from $1 million to $2.5 million selling in 16 to 19 days at 105% to 111% of list, and homes from $2.5 million to $4 million taking 81 to 88 days at 96% to 100%. A median across the town cannot say which of those a given house faces. A seller of a luxury home should ask for the closed sales in the home's own band and for the share that sold below their opening ask.

The second question is the commission, and the arithmetic is simple. Each 1% of a $1,512,500 price is $15,125. At 3% the figure is $45,375 and at 5% it is $75,625. These illustrate the size of each percentage point and are not quotes of any rate a seller would be charged. No page in this brief names a Hingham commission rate, and $1,512,500 is a brokerage's median and not a price for any one home. For a luxury home the same percentage points are larger sums, and a seller should compare what each route leaves in hand.

The third question is time and exposure. The pages describe clocks from 16 days to 21 for the typical sale and 81 to 88 days above $2.5 million, with a median of 6 days to an offer for the homes that draw one. A public listing means showings, open houses and neighbors who can see that a home is for sale. The July article says buyers remember an original price after a reduction, which is a cost of a public listing that a private sale avoids. A flexible closing date in a private sale gives a seller time to find a new home without waiting for a public sale to find a buyer.

The fourth question is repairs. The pages do not discuss the inspection process, and none of them gives the share of Hingham sales that required repairs or credits. In a postal area where 54.6% of homes were built before 1980, many sellers own a house whose systems and structure a buyer's inspector will review. A private sale avoids inspection repairs, and no page measures what they cost in Hingham.

The benefits are plain. Maison Off-Market buys luxury homes and estates directly from their owners and speaks only to sellers. A private sale has no showings and no neighbors talking about a sale. It allows closing dates that give a seller time to find a new home. It has no commission costs and no closing costs, and it avoids inspection repairs. The company does not say that a private sale always beats a public listing, and in a town where the pages disagree on the direction of prices and the speed of sales, an owner is right to ask what each route yields. If you would like a private, no-obligation offer for a Hingham home, call 401-219-4207 or use the contact form on this site.

Methodology and limitations

Redfin's data run to August 2026 and the page is dated September; it contradicts itself on the year-over-year change in homes sold and presents a falling median beside a rising rate per square foot. The brokerage's July 30 article and second-quarter report use MLS data prepared July 1, 2026 and describe single-family homes; the two pages put the 2026 median at $1,512,500 against different prior-year figures, and the report's price bands cover 49 of its 58 sales. The South Shore report covers December 2, 2025 to June 2, 2026 and is from a brokerage with an office in the town. Zillow's figure is an average of modeled values as of August 31, 2026. The pages cover different property types, filters and periods and are commercial, so they are not independent of each other. The Census figures are five-year estimates for a postal area that is larger than the town.

Conclusion

The Hingham record shows medians from $1,510,000 to $1,588,948, a Redfin price down 2.2% beside a rate per square foot up 17.9%, asking prices up 15.1% against sale prices up 7.3%, clocks from 16 days to 21 for the typical sale and 81 to 88 days above $2.5 million, and a postal area where 54.6% of homes predate 1980. The pages differ because they measure different homes, windows and price tiers, and the useful result for an owner is the figure for the home's own tier.