Massachusetts is home to some pretty amazing properties, from gorgeous mountain retreats in The Berkshires to stunning Beacon Hill townhomes and of course, jaw-dropping Cape Cod estates.

The price tag on these properties can leave some in sticker shock as many of these properties are on the market for more than some people will earn in their entire lifetime, but I guess it's all relative.

While an area like The Berkshires can provide buyers with giant estates sitting on acres upon acres for "only" a few million, as your head towards the eastern part of the state and of course on to the Cape and the Islands, prices skyrocket.

Speaking of sky-high prices, a new record was recently set in Massachusetts real estate when a Nantucket beach house that was listed for $48 million (the most expensive public listing in Massachusetts history) sold on June 30th for $38,127,000.

Listed by Marybeth Gilmartin-Baugher at Compass the property, aptly named “Beam Ends”, is 15,332 square foot, eight-bedroom home which boasts seven full baths, and four half-bath. This idyllic getaway sits on whopping four acres of Nantucket Harbor coastline, surrounded by protected conservation areas and direct access to a private beach.

 

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

Gallery Credit: Keri Wiginton

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