Expired Listing? Relisting a Boston Home That Did Not Sell

What the MLS data shows

From November 2025 through October 2026, 4,404 residential listings in Boston sold and 4,320 ended without a sale: 2,417 expired and 1,903 were withdrawn. The share differs widely by neighborhood.

Expired listings in Boston had a median of 79 days on market, and withdrawn listings 68 days. Listings that sold spent a median of 30 days on market. Across Suffolk, Middlesex and Norfolk counties, the figures were 76 days for expired listings and 23 days for sold ones.

These counts are listings, not homes: a home that expired and was relisted appears once for each listing. The next section follows homes instead. Each neighborhood is its MLS PIN area; listings with no MLS area are placed by ZIP code.

What happened after listings ended unsold

Juan Real Estate Group followed every Boston residential listing that expired or was withdrawn from December 1, 2024, to May 1, 2026: 4,881 listings covering 4,014 homes. Each was matched by address and unit to later MLS PIN listings of the same home and followed for six months.

• 41% were relisted within six months, a median of 41 days after the listing ended. The rest did not return to the market in that time.
• 14% sold within six months (15% of homes). Those sales closed a median of 114 days after the original listing came off the market.
• Homes that sold closed at a median of 93% of the original list price and 95% of the final list price before the listing ended.
• 10% of listings were back on the market within a week, usually a cancel-and-relist with new terms. Leaving those out, 11% of owners who started over sold within six months.

A home that changed type between listings, such as a three-family relisted as condo units, is not counted as the same home. The matching was checked against MLS PIN listing histories for a random sample of 20 homes, and all 20 were correct. Neighborhood groups are small, so their percentages can move by several points from one month to the next.

Why listings expire

Most expired listings trace back to one or more of these, and each one shows up in the listing record:

• Price set above what recent comparable sales support, often with reductions that came late or stayed in the same search bracket.
• Presentation: photos, floor plan, description or listing details that did not answer what buyers were comparing.
• Access: limited showing windows, tenant-occupied units or advance-notice rules that cut the number of showings.
• Condition issues that came up in showings or a home inspection and were not addressed in the price or with repairs.
• Timing: a listing launched late in the season or competing with several similar homes at once.

What Juan Murray reviews before a relist

• The full listing history: list date, price changes, days on market and any accepted offer that did not reach the P&S or closing.
• Homes that sold nearby during the same months, and the price brackets they sold in.
• Showing activity and buyer feedback, where the owner has it.
• The original photos, description and listing details, compared with the listings that sold.
• A pricing strategy for the relist, with the net proceeds at each price option.

The goal of the review is a specific reason the home did not sell and a plan that addresses it. A relist with the same price, photos and description tends to meet the same response.

Before you sign a new listing agreement

• Confirm the end date of the previous listing agreement in writing.
• Read any protection or extension clause. Many listing agreements say a commission may still be owed if the home sells to a buyer who saw it during the listing. The closing attorney or the previous brokerage can confirm what applies.
• Decide whether to relist now or wait. Season, the number of competing listings and the work the home needs all affect that decision.
• Run the numbers. The estimate below compares the net at the last list price and at a new price.

If the home is still listed

If the listing agreement is still in effect, Juan Murray does not discuss listing the home or the terms of a new agreement. The REALTOR Code of Ethics (Article 16) restricts contact about a property that is listed with another broker under an active agreement. This guide is for owners whose listing has expired or been withdrawn, and for owners researching their options before a listing ends.