2026-09-10 · Massachusetts · Legislation · Did not pass

What happened. The real estate transfer fee got closer than it ever has in Massachusetts, and still did not pass.

S.1937, An Act enabling a local option for a real estate transfer fee to fund affordable housing (Sen. Joanne Comerford, with Sens. Gomez, Eldridge and Lewis), was reported favorably out of the Revenue Committee on 18 December 2025 and referred to Senate Ways and Means — the furthest a transfer fee bill has advanced. It stopped there.¹ Its House companion is H.3056 (Reps. Mike Connolly and Carmine Gentile).

What it would allow

A municipality could impose a fee of 0.5 to 2.0 percent on sale proceeds above $1 million or the county median sale price, whichever is greater, dedicated exclusively to local affordable housing.

The queue behind it

Nineteen municipalities have passed home rule petitions now awaiting State House approval: Amherst, Aquinnah, Arlington, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chatham, Chilmark, Concord, Edgartown, Falmouth, Nantucket, Oak Bluffs, Provincetown, Somerville, Tisbury, Truro, Wellfleet and West Tisbury.²

The Legislature has approved none of them. More than half are on Cape Cod and the Islands. A separate count puts the total at 13 rather than 19; the discrepancy is unverified.

Why condominium sellers should care

In Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline and Provincetown, a very large share of transactions above $1 million are condominium unit sales. A fee keyed to a dollar threshold in those markets would fall disproportionately on condominium sellers rather than on the single-family sellers the framing usually invokes.

Whether S.1937 exempts or includes condominium conveyances could not be confirmed from the bill's status page and is unverified.

1. S.1937, local option real estate transfer fee — bill page and history ↩
2. Local Option for Housing Affordability, municipalities with home rule petitions ↩
3. CommonWealth Beacon, prospects shaky for real estate transfer fee ↩