Needham, MA
Tracking 10,892 properties across Needham, Massachusetts — a community where the median home dates to 1960 and the oldest to 1718. Every parcel mapped with building characteristics, environmental exposure, hazard risk, and ownership history assembled from 140+ sources.
Needham, MAInc. 1680
Needham is an affluent suburb along Route 128, with a well-defined town center and residential neighborhoods that rank among the most desirable in the western suburbs. The town's position on the Route 128 corridor brings commercial and office properties — the Needham Street and Highland Avenue corridors host significant commercial development — while the residential neighborhoods are predominantly single-family homes with strong assessed values.
For property professionals, Needham is a high-value market driven by schools, transit access via the commuter rail, and proximity to the Route 128 employment centers. The housing stock spans from pre-war homes near the town center to newer construction, but the consistent thread is owner-occupied, well-maintained single-family residential. Building condition and renovation history are the key differentiators in a market where location and schools are relatively uniform.
Risk Profile
FEMA flood zones, fire protection grades, radon — parcel by parcel
FEMA Flood Zones
109 properties (1%) 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.
The Property Landscape
10,892 properties · Median year built 1960 · Avg 2,014 sf
Property Types
Construction by Era
Market Activity
Recorded transactions from Norfolk County Registry of Deeds
NE Provenance tracks recorded deeds, mortgages, and liens for 98% of Needham 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
27,661 municipal building permits on file · 55% of properties
NE Provenance tracks 27,661 building permits across 5,932 Needham properties — 55% coverage. 5,192 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 Needham
Norfolk County · Massachusetts
Needham covers 12.7 square miles in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. The median assessed property value is $1.2M.
Single-family homes account for 8,407 of Needham's 10,892 properties, with 459 condominiums and 794 multi-family buildings. There are 374 commercial properties and 132 parcels of vacant land. About 82% of properties are owner-occupied.
Assessed values range widely — the middle 50% of properties fall between $970K and $1.7M, with the highest assessed property at $149.0M. For professionals working in this market, the value spread tells you a lot about what you'll encounter door to door.
Most of Needham (95%) is on municipal sewer. Electric service is provided by TOWN OF BRAINTREE - (MA). 1,583 properties have identified commercial activity — restaurants, retail, professional offices, and services that give Needham its character. 164 properties have swimming pools.
What Needham Property Intelligence Means for Professionals
Insurance & Underwriting
Needham's fire protection grade distribution (1,562 Grade A, 6,557 Grade B) directly affects premium calculation. Parcel-level hazard data provides the granularity that ZIP-level aggregation misses.
Insurance solutionsReal Estate & Appraisal
Needham's 10 property types, spanning construction from 1718 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. 1% of Needham 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
27,661 permits across 55% of properties means most Needham inspection assignments can start with documented renovation and system history, not a blank slate.
Inspection solutionsExplore Needham property intelligence.
10,892 Needham 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/needham-ma. For references or attribution, please link back to this page or neprovenance.com. Thank you, we appreciate it.