Tewksbury's Condo Market Loosened Before the New Zoning Built Anything

From January through September 2026, Tewksbury condo sellers received 98.8% of their original list price. Over the same months of 2025 the figure was 101.6%. Cumulative days on market rose from 22 to 43 over that stretch, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors' September 2026 local market update. All of that happened before Town Meeting approved a multifamily zoning district that could theoretically hold 1,792 homes.

That timing matters for anyone pricing a condo in town this fall. The softening came from the units already for sale. The new district was drawn in places that are unlikely to add competing supply for years. So condo buyers and sellers should read the conditions in front of them and not wait on a wave of construction that the map makes unlikely.

One town, two very different resale markets

Over the first nine months of 2026, the same MAR report shows both property types with rising prices and more listings. Condos absorbed far more of the slowdown.

Single-family days on market rose too, but those sellers still get above asking on average. In September 2026 they received 102.7% of original list, and homes went under agreement in 22 cumulative days. Condo sellers in September 2026 received 98.2% after 33 days, compared with 20 days a year earlier. The September condo median was $498,500, down 7.7% from $540,000 in September 2025. MAR notes that a single month can swing on small samples, and Tewksbury closed only 12 condo sales that September. That makes the year-to-date column the steadier read.

More buyers showed up, and more sellers showed up faster

Condo demand did not fall. Pending sales through September 2026 were up 21.7% from a year earlier, and the year-to-date median price rose 2.9%. Supply grew faster. New condo listings rose 25.3% over the same period.

When listings grow faster than buyers, buyers get choices, and choices cost sellers time and negotiating room. The drop from 101.6% to 98.8% of list price, alongside a year-to-date median that still rose, fits that pattern. In September 2026, inventory stood at 20 condos against 16 a year earlier, about 2.2 months of supply.

The report also notes that its list-price figures do not account for seller concessions. In a market where condo sellers are already accepting less than asking, the net amount after credits can sit below the headline ratio.

What Tewksbury voters approved on October 6

The condo numbers above run through September, and the zoning vote came in October. Even after the vote, the way the district was drawn limits how quickly it can add supply.

The Lowell Sun reported that Tewksbury first rejected MBTA Communities zoning in May 2024 by a vote of 565 to 142. The Supreme Judicial Court ruled in January 2025 that the law was enforceable, and Attorney General Andrea Campbell sued Tewksbury and eight other towns in January 2026. Town Manager John Curran told voters the town had lost $1.7 million in grant funding and called the matter "settled law." At the October 6 Special Town Meeting, Article 19, the bylaw, passed 133 to 33. Article 20, the map, passed 155 to 5, according to the Sun. The Tewksbury Carnation's meeting summary records the map vote as 150 to 5.

The district was built to keep its impact small. When the Select and Planning boards approved it in June, Planning Board Chair Stephen Johnson told the Lowell Sun the new districts would have "the least likely impact to the town." The overlay covers two areas:

• East of Clark Road and north of I-495. According to the Select Board's April 21, 2026 minutes, Curran told the board this area was "very wet," with fewer developable acres.
• The Ames Hill Drive area near Ames Pond. Curran described this as one parcel of a little over 50 acres. The same minutes record him saying the statute requires more than one parcel in a district, so the town added 75 Radcliff Road.

The town's warrant allows two-family homes, townhouses, and multifamily buildings by right in the overlay, subject to Planning Board site plan review. It caps density at 15 units per acre, limits height to four stories and 48 feet, and requires 1.5 parking spaces per unit.

Why 1,792 is a ceiling

The 1,792-unit figure is what the Lowell Sun called a "theoretical total" across both subdistricts. Three features of the bylaw and the map keep that number theoretical for now.

First, the overlay adds options without removing any. Under the warrant, property owners keep all their existing rights under the underlying Industrial, Residential, General Business, and Office Research zoning. An owner whose land earns money as commercial space has no obligation to build housing.

Second, the town chose its added parcel with that in mind. The April Select Board minutes compare two candidates. At 3 Radcliff Road, 3.26 industrial acres could have held about 45 units, but the site is occupied by Stageedge, an event production company the minutes describe as thriving. At 75 Radcliff Road, about one of its six acres appeared developable, enough for roughly 15 units. Board members preferred 75 Radcliff Road so that an established local business would not be displaced.

Third, the state still has its say. On its MBTA Communities page, Massachusetts says a town's adoption of zoning is separate from the state's determination of compliance.

The district can still produce housing. Any building there would start with a landowner's decision and a Planning Board site plan review.

The new homes already under way are in the town center

New construction in Tewksbury is happening, just at a much smaller scale. The Tewksbury Town Crier's construction roundup lists three residential projects in and near the town center:

1. MacLellan Oil property, 1167, 1177 and 1187 Main St. Trees are being cleared for a four-story, 24-unit multifamily building that the Planning Board approved in early 2024.
2. Former Discount Madness site, 1325 Main St. Two buildings of seven apartments each on a 2.1-acre lot, 14 units in all, two of them designated affordable. The project was approved in May.
3. Sycamore Hall, 24 Pleasant St. The historic building keeps three residences, and a new eight-unit building is going up behind it. It was approved in late 2021 for a spring 2022 start, and windows are now going in.

That adds up to 49 homes, two on Main Street and one on Pleasant Street. Sycamore Hall shows how long approval-to-occupancy can take in Tewksbury: about four years and counting for 11 units. For a condo owner planning a sale in 2027, these are the new buildings likely to be finished nearby. None of them falls inside the October 6 overlay.

Pricing a Tewksbury condo for the market that exists

For a seller, the competition is the resale unit down the hall or across town. Through September 2026, a listing priced the way the market behaved in 2025 waited roughly twice as long and closed below asking on average. The useful comparisons are the condos that went under contract this summer and fall in the same building or complex. A spring 2025 sale that drew over-asking offers says little about today.

For a buyer, 43 days and 98.8% of list price mean more room to ask questions than Tewksbury condo buyers had a year ago. That includes time to ask about a building's reserves and upcoming projects before committing. Single-family buyers have less room. Even with inventory up 52.2% in September 2026, those homes still sold above asking on average that month.

A few questions worth answering directly

Will new apartments near I-495 pull rents or condo prices down? The bylaw permits multifamily housing there by right, but it does not require anyone to build, and the town picked its added parcel partly to leave an operating business in place.

Is Tewksbury now in compliance with the MBTA Communities law? The town adopted its bylaw and map on October 6, 2026. The state's guidance says local adoption and a state compliance determination are separate steps.

Is the condo softening the same everywhere in town? The MAR figures are townwide, and Tewksbury's monthly condo sales numbers are small, so individual complexes can behave differently. Recent sales inside a specific community are the better guide.

This post covers zoning and market conditions as general information. It is not legal, tax, or financial advice, so check your own situation with the right professional.

If you own a condo in Tewksbury and want to know how your unit compares with what has actually gone under contract this fall, Plunkett Properties can walk through the recent sales in your building with you. We manage condominium communities as well as sell in them, so we know the buildings. Contact us.