Most articles like this one start by telling you your apartment is terrible. We’re not going to do that, because in this case it wouldn’t be true.
Princeton Crossing reviews well. On ApartmentRatings it had 4.5 out of 5 across 885 resident votes when we checked on August 10, 2026, with staff at 4.8, grounds at 4.8 and maintenance at 4.7. Management responded to every review in the past year, averaging about a day and a half. Google reviews were lower at 3.8 across 91. Hot water and gas are included in your rent, which is genuinely unusual and worth real money.
So this is a straight comparison. You’re paying rent in a good building, and at some point the question becomes whether that money should be going toward something you own. Here’s how that comparison looks in Salem.
Where Your Rent Stands
As listed on Rentable on August 10, 2026, one-bedrooms at Princeton Crossing ran $2,140 to $2,299 and two-bedrooms $2,480 to $2,590. Pet rent is $100 a month per dog and $50 per cat, with a $40 pet fee.
Those are, as far as we could find, the lowest verified rents of any large institutional apartment community in this part of the North Shore. Combined with utilities being included, you’re in a genuinely competitive rental. Any fair comparison has to start by admitting that.
What rent doesn’t do is build anything. At $2,140 a month you’ll send about $25,680 to a landlord this year, and about $128,000 over five years, and at the end of it you’ll own exactly what you own today. That’s the case for looking, and it’s the whole case.
Salem Is Half Renters, and the Renter Share Is Growing
Something worth knowing about the city you live in: Salem is 49.7% owner-occupied, down from 51.4% the year before. Roughly half of Salem rents, and the owner share is falling.
Part of the reason is that almost all the new housing being built in Salem is rental. The large projects in the pipeline are apartments. Ownership supply here isn’t being created so much as converted from existing buildings, and the city passed an ordinance in 2025 that slows conversions and adds requirements.
That ordinance contains something directly useful to you. When a building with two or more units is converted to condominiums, existing tenants get protections including a two-year lease extension, relocation assistance, and a right of first refusal to buy their own unit. If you ever rent in a building that goes condo, you get first crack at it. Most renters have no idea that right exists.
What You’d Buy in Salem
Here’s the number that explains Salem’s market in one line: the median single-family house is about $675,000, while the median across all home types is about $580,000. That gap is condominiums, and condos are how people buy into this city.
On the ground:
- Median condo asking price around $524,900, with 62 condos listed in early August 2026 ranging from $299,900 to $979,000.
- One-bedroom condos in South Salem had a median around $316,500, the cheapest verified entry point in the city.
- One-bedrooms around Salem Common ran closer to $405,000.
A $316,500 one-bedroom against a $2,140 rent is a comparison worth taking seriously. Whether it wins depends on your down payment, your credit, the condo fee and the tax bill, and that’s exactly the calculation we’ll do with you for free.
Salem’s Other Path: a Two or Three Family
Salem differs from most towns around it here. Buildings with two to four units make up about 38% of Salem’s housing, which is a larger share than all single-family homes combined at about 30%.
That matters because you can buy a two-family, live in one unit, and let the rent from the other help cover your mortgage. Lenders count that rental income when they decide what you qualify for. Multi-family prices in Salem generally start around $700,000, so it’s a bigger purchase than a condo, and the rent coming in changes the arithmetic in a way that surprises people. Both the City of Salem’s own assistance program and MassHousing cover two-to-four unit buildings specifically.
Salem’s Down Payment Help Is Real and Local
The City of Salem runs a first-time homebuyer down payment assistance program through its Department of Planning and Community Development, and the terms are concrete:
- A no-interest, deferred loan that matches your down payment up to $6,500, plus $1,000 more if you complete a certified homebuyer counseling course, for $7,500 total.
- Eligible on a condo, single-family, or two-to-four family home in Salem that will be your primary residence.
- Income limits as of June 2026 ran about $96,000 for one person and $109,700 for two, rising with household size.
- Purchase price caps well above the entry market, at $858,000 for a single-family.
- You repay it when you sell or move out, not monthly.
Apply before you make an offer. The city asks for documentation at least six weeks before closing, and an approval letter is good for six months. Their housing office number is 978-619-5685.
On top of that, FHA loans need 3.5% down with a 580 score, ONE Mortgage offers as little as 3% down with no private mortgage insurance, and MassHousing has its own down payment assistance whose amounts change often enough that we’ll check the current terms for you rather than print a number here that goes stale.
Salem Taxes: Two Things to Know
Salem uses a split tax rate, which works in a homeowner’s favor. The FY2026 residential rate is $10.78 per $1,000, while commercial property pays $21.89. Homeowners are carrying roughly half the rate businesses do.
Two caveats. First, the residential rate came down from $11.34 last year, and bills still went up, because assessments rose faster than the rate fell. The median single-family bill rose $338 to about $6,858. A falling rate isn’t a tax cut.
Second, and nobody is writing about this one, in May 2026 Salem voters approved a debt exclusion for a new high school, which is expected to add roughly $700 a year to a median homeowner’s bill starting in 2028, over a 30-year term. It isn’t in today’s rate. If you’re buying here, budget for it, because it’s coming.
One bright spot for condo buyers specifically: in FY2026 condo assessments rose 5.8% while single-family assessments rose 11.7%, and the median condo tax bill fell by $70 while the median single-family bill rose.
The Commute You Already Have
Salem station is Zone 3 on the Newburyport/Rockport line, and the schedule puts you at North Station in 36 to 38 minutes. A one-way is $8.00 and a monthly pass is $261. The garage has 700 spaces at $5 a day, and about half of riders walk or bike to the station instead. It’s the busiest commuter rail station in the MBTA system outside the central Boston terminals.
Whatever brought you to Salem, buying here keeps it.
Old Houses Are the Norm Here
Salem’s housing is genuinely old. The median year built is 1938, and about 51% of all housing units predate 1940. The Chestnut Street district alone holds 407 buildings and is considered one of the great concentrations of pre-1900 homes in the country.
Practically, that means inspections matter more here than in a newer town. Knob-and-tube wiring, older plumbing, aging heating systems and lead paint on anything built before 1978 all turn up regularly. None of it should scare you off. All of it is a reason to use a good inspector and a lender who has financed old Salem buildings before. If you’re weighing an older property, our guide to buying an old home in Essex County covers the inspection and financing side in more depth.
Where We Come In
GoldCoast Mortgage is an independent mortgage broker based in Beverly, one town over. We shop your loan across many lenders rather than offering one bank’s products, which matters on condo purchases, on two-to-four family buildings, and on any file that isn’t perfectly standard.
We’ll pre-qualify you at no cost so you know your real budget. And because you’re currently in a well-run building at a competitive rent, we’ll be straight with you: if the numbers say stay another year and save, that’s what we’ll tell you.
Recommended Realtors for First-Time Buyers
We work regularly with two local agents who are good with first-time buyers and who won’t rush you:
- Arthur Martiroso, DNA Realty Group, 617-921-5015
- Joshua Riopelle, Simes City Realty, North Andover, 978-590-2741
You’re welcome to work with any agent you like. We mention them because renters often ask us who to call once the financing side makes sense.
Questions From Salem Renters
Does the city’s $7,500 stack with MassHousing assistance?
Often yes, though programs have their own rules about combining and about which first mortgage they attach to. That’s a big part of why it helps to have someone assemble the pieces rather than applying to each one separately and hoping they fit.
Is a two-family really manageable for a first-time buyer?
It’s more work than a condo and it comes with being a landlord, including the legal side. Massachusetts requires landlord counseling on two-to-four unit purchases under some programs for exactly that reason. Many people do it successfully as a first purchase, and it should be a decision rather than a default.
What does a condo fee usually run in Salem?
It varies widely with the building’s age, its amenities and how well the association is funded. What matters more than the number is the association’s reserve fund, because a thin reserve is how owners get hit with a special assessment. We look at that alongside the unit.
How does the school debt exclusion affect what I can borrow?
It doesn’t affect today’s qualifying, because lenders use current taxes. It affects what your payment looks like in 2028, which is your problem rather than the lender’s, and it’s the sort of thing worth planning for while you’re choosing a price point.
My rent includes heat and hot water. How do I compare that fairly?
Add a realistic monthly utility estimate to the ownership side before you compare. It’s a real cost you don’t currently pay, and leaving it out makes buying look better than it is. We’d rather build it in and show you a real number.