Orleans, MA
Tracking 6,367 properties across Orleans, Massachusetts — a community where the median home dates to 1976 and the oldest to 1650. Every parcel mapped with building characteristics, environmental exposure, hazard risk, and ownership history assembled from 140+ sources.
Orleans, MAInc. 1693
Orleans sits at the junction of the Mid-Cape and Outer Cape, facing both Cape Cod Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The town functions as the commercial center of the Lower Cape, with a compact downtown and the kind of retail and services that the smaller Outer Cape towns lack. Rock Harbor on the bay side and Nauset Beach on the ocean side create two very different coastal environments within a single town.
For property professionals, Orleans is a moderate-to-upper Cape market where the dual coastline creates different risk profiles on each side. Nauset Beach, a barrier beach, has experienced dramatic erosion and storm damage, while the bay-side properties face less violent but still significant tidal and storm exposure. The town's commercial center adds property diversity beyond the residential stock.
Risk Profile
FEMA flood zones, fire protection grades, radon, coastal exposure, storm surge — parcel by parcel
FEMA Flood Zones
892 properties (14%) 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
5,997 properties (94%) are within 3 miles of the ocean. 1,803 are classified as waterfront. The closest property is 0 ft from the coastline.
The Property Landscape
6,367 properties · Median year built 1976 · Avg 31,163 sf
Property Types
Construction by Era
Architectural Styles
Market Activity
Recorded transactions from Barnstable County Registry of Deeds
NE Provenance tracks recorded deeds, mortgages, and liens for 99% of Orleans 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
67,355 municipal building permits on file · 69% of properties
NE Provenance tracks 67,355 building permits across 4,395 Orleans properties — 69% coverage. 3,467 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 Orleans
Barnstable County · Massachusetts
Orleans covers 14.6 square miles in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. The median assessed property value is $791K.
Single-family homes account for 4,233 of Orleans's 6,367 properties and 1,068 multi-family buildings. There are 465 commercial properties. About 23% of properties are owner-occupied, and 22% are owned by someone out of state.
Assessed values range widely — the middle 50% of properties fall between $444K and $1.2M, with the highest assessed property at $28.9M. For professionals working in this market, the value spread tells you a lot about what you'll encounter door to door.
27% of properties are on municipal sewer, with the remainder on private septic systems. Electric service is provided by NSTAR ELECTRIC COMPANY. 539 properties have identified commercial activity — restaurants, retail, professional offices, and services that give Orleans its character.
What Orleans Property Intelligence Means for Professionals
Insurance & Underwriting
With 14% of properties in FEMA flood zones and 94% in the coastal zone, Orleans concentrates several major underwriting variables. Parcel-level hazard data provides the granularity that ZIP-level aggregation misses.
Insurance solutionsReal Estate & Appraisal
Orleans's 10 property types, spanning construction from 1650 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. 14% of Orleans 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
67,355 permits across 69% of properties means most Orleans inspection assignments can start with documented renovation and system history, not a blank slate.
Inspection solutionsExplore Orleans property intelligence.
6,367 Orleans 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/orleans-ma. For references or attribution, please link back to this page or neprovenance.com. Thank you, we appreciate it.