57-59 Bainbridge St. in Malden, a two-family currently on the market for $769,900. Photo by Jim Morrison | Banker & Tradesman Staff

Single-family home prices appreciated about 5 percent on average in Massachusetts last year. Some communities saw less appreciation, some saw more, and some dark horse Boston suburbs saw a whole lot more.

Everett is becoming the new Charlestown, according to industry veteran Chris Piazza of ERA Millennium in Everett. The median single-family home price jumped a staggering 14 percent in that hardscrabble town in 2017, according to analysis from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. Piazza said all but one house he listed in 2017 sold for above the asking price at the first open house.

“We have the casino being built,” Piazza said. “That’s part of it, but the main reason is that Charlestown, Somerville and Cambridge are all maxed out and that drives buyers and investors into Everett.”

Jim Morrison

Piazza spoke to Banker & Tradesman on a Friday afternoon. He said he had just listed a three-family house for $749,000 that would have sold in the $400s five years ago. He planned to hold an open house over the weekend and predicted the house would sell in a day. He said he expected about 20 groups to walk though.

“I had over 30 groups through,” he said a few days after the open house. “I got six offers, five of them above the asking price. Two investors offered well over the asking price and it’s under agreement with no contingencies and a huge down payment. The seller feels great. The buyer is thrilled. I’m thrilled and somewhat shocked. It’ll work out even if the appraisal comes in low. This is just what the market is demanding.”

Everett has everything going for it that Charlestown had before its renaissance in the 1990s, Piazza said – and it’s a whole lot less expensive. The median sale price of a single-family home in Everett was $405,000 in 2017. In Charlestown, it was $947,500, down 18 percent from the previous year.

A lot of it has to do with location and ease of transportation, Piazza said; “the Orange Line nearby. There are buses that go into Haymarket. The Blue Line goes through Revere, which is next door. If you go off-hours, it takes 10 minutes to get to the heart of Boston, just like Charlestown, except we have a lot of off-street parking. The people who work in Everett – police officers, firefighters, teachers – are buying. Anyone who desires to own a multifamily house is coming here.”

Can’t Afford Boston? Try Malden

The single-family median home price in Malden jumped 17 percent from $379,500 in 2016 to $443,000 last year. Condominiums near public transportation in that working-class town can sell for more than $500,000.

“The amount of building they’ve done downtown in Malden is crazy,” said Dan Fabbri of Century 21 Advance. “Buyers who’ve been priced out of Boston, Cambridge and Somerville are pouring into Malden.”

Buyers are just three stops up the Orange Line from Charlestown at a fraction of the cost, he said.

“I just sold a three-family in Malden for $900,000,” Fabbri said. “Two-families selling for between $700,000 and $800,000 isn’t unrealistic, depending on how close they are to the T. You can still live in one unit and have the other unit cover most of your mortgage if it’s got three bedrooms, same idea as the old days. It’s a function of the interest rates. At some point this year, I believe we’ll see it plateau.”

Fabbri has worked through several cycles in his three decades selling real estate in the area, but nothing prepared him for this market. People move to Everett now because they know money from the casino will be used to improve the schools and infrastructure.

“I would never have thought prices in Everett would go this high,” Fabbri said. “I put something on the market and it’s gone in five days. It’s so thin for inventory. People know they have to come in high. It’s never been like this, not even in the boom times before the crash.”

Medford is Somerville on a Budget

Medford, too, he said is hot, although for different reasons. There the median price of a single-family home in 2017 was $581,000, up 14 percent from the previous year. The median price of a single family in Somerville was $722,500, up 12 percent from 2016.

Fabbri expects this year will bring more impressive gains in Medford.

“Medford, in my mind, is far and away the nicest of the three cities,” Fabbri said. “I just sold a three-family in Medford a few streets over from Somerville for a $1.2 million. That set a new mark. Two-families are going over for a million. Medford is almost the new Somerville. A different demographic is coming into Medford. Someone who is a little more established and priced out of Somerville.”

Fabbri’s listings sold in an average of eight days last year. His secret is no secret – he suggests pricing the property a little below what comparable properties are selling for to draw as many potential buyers as possible into an open house, and let them bid against each other for a couple of days.

“I have a small two-bedroom in Medford I just listed for $430,000 and that will be the least expensive single-family for sale in the city,” Fabbri. “It’ll go for $450,000 to $460,000. If you grab a listing, you’re guaranteed a paycheck. There just isn’t enough inventory.“