Nahant, MA
Tracking 1,496 properties across Nahant, Massachusetts — a community where the median home dates to 1926 and the oldest to 1723. Every parcel mapped with building characteristics, environmental exposure, hazard risk, and ownership history assembled from 140+ sources.
Nahant, MAInc. 1630
Nahant is a small peninsula town connected to Lynn by a narrow causeway, effectively an island community of fewer than 1,500 properties. Nearly every property in Nahant has some degree of ocean exposure — the town is surrounded by water on three sides, and the highest point is only about 160 feet above sea level. This geography makes Nahant one of the most concentrated coastal risk environments in Essex County.
For insurance and lending professionals, Nahant is a case study in coastal property risk: storm surge, flood zones, salt air deterioration, wind exposure, and erosion all converge on a small land area. The housing stock ranges from modest cottages to oceanfront properties with significant assessed values, but every property shares the fundamental reality of living on a peninsula in the open Atlantic. Parcel-level data on flood zone, surge category, and ocean proximity is not just useful here — it's essential.
Risk Profile
FEMA flood zones, fire protection grades, radon, coastal exposure, storm surge — parcel by parcel
FEMA Flood Zones
549 properties (37%) are in FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas, where flood insurance is required for federally-backed mortgages.
Fire Protection Grades
Fire protection grades reflect proximity to fire stations and hydrant infrastructure. Grade affects insurance pricing in every New England state.
Coastal & Water Exposure
1,496 properties (100%) are within 3 miles of the ocean. 857 are classified as waterfront. The closest property is 0 ft from the coastline.
The Property Landscape
1,496 properties · Median year built 1926 · Avg 2,347 sf
Property Types
Construction by Era
Architectural Styles
Market Activity
Recorded transactions from Essex County Registry of Deeds
NE Provenance tracks recorded deeds, mortgages, and liens for 95% of Nahant properties. Ownership intelligence includes transaction history, entity detection, portfolio identification, and lien analysis — assembled from public registry records into a single property-level profile.
Building Permits & Maintenance
9,286 municipal building permits on file · 84% of properties
NE Provenance tracks 9,286 building permits across 1,257 Nahant properties — 84% coverage. 834 properties have permit activity in the last five years.
Each permit record reveals maintenance decisions: roof replacements, electrical upgrades, kitchen renovations, solar installations. For insurance, lending, and appraisal professionals, permit history is the most objective evidence of property condition available from public records.
Living in Nahant
Essex County · Massachusetts
Nahant covers 1.3 square miles in Essex County, Massachusetts. The median assessed property value is $867K.
Single-family homes account for 1,145 of Nahant's 1,496 properties and 106 multi-family buildings. There are 38 parcels of vacant land. About 75% of properties are owner-occupied, and 4% are owned by someone out of state.
Assessed values range widely — the middle 50% of properties fall between $691K and $1.2M, with the highest assessed property at $19.8M. For professionals working in this market, the value spread tells you a lot about what you'll encounter door to door.
Most of Nahant (99%) is on municipal sewer. Electric service is provided by National Grid (Massachusetts Electric). 187 properties have identified commercial activity — restaurants, retail, professional offices, and services that give Nahant its character.
Environmental note: Nahant has an average EPA lead paint indicator at the 90th percentile nationally, consistent with 209 properties built before 1900 when lead paint was standard.
What Nahant Property Intelligence Means for Professionals
Insurance & Underwriting
With 37% of properties in FEMA flood zones and 100% in the coastal zone, Nahant concentrates several major underwriting variables. Parcel-level hazard data provides the granularity that ZIP-level aggregation misses.
Insurance solutionsReal Estate & Appraisal
Nahant's 10 property types, spanning construction from 1723 to present, require local market knowledge for accurate comparable selection and valuation. NEP assembles building characteristics, environmental exposure, and condition signals into a single property profile.
Real estate solutionsLending & Title
Collateral assessment requires flood zone verification, environmental screening, and ownership chain validation. 37% of Nahant properties are in SFHAs where flood insurance is a federal lending requirement. NEP provides property-level compliance data from public records.
Lending solutionsInspection & Property Services
9,286 permits across 84% of properties means most Nahant inspection assignments can start with documented renovation and system history, not a blank slate.
Inspection solutionsExplore Nahant property intelligence.
1,496 Nahant properties — each with risk profiles, building data, permit history, and ownership analysis from 140+ sources. Open any property and see the full picture.
Source: NE Provenance, “Professional Property Intelligence for New England,” neprovenance.com/insights/town/nahant-ma. For references or attribution, please link back to this page or neprovenance.com. Thank you, we appreciate it.