Reports Cite Growing Mass. Housing Market

Home sales in Massachusetts rose by double-digit percentages last month, providing further evidence of a recovery in the Bay State housing market.
The Warren Group of Boston said sales of both condominiums and single-family homes rose for the seventh straight month in August, up 20 percent for single-family structures over August 2011 and 24 percent through the first eight months of the year.

The median price of single-family homes, meanwhile, increased 1.6 percent to $310,000, marking the third straight month the median exceeded $300,000. But looking at January through August, the median price was $290,000, down 1.7 percent from the same period in 2011.

"One more month of strong home sales (confirms) speculation that the housing market recovery is underway," said Warren Group CEO Timothy M. Warren Jr. "Even though we are comparing to a slow August last year, the consistent sales volume of 4,000 to 5,000 (homes) in the past few months is a promising indicator."

In a separate report, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) said home sales in August rose for the 14th straight month while median selling prices were flat. But while the MAR said condo sales were also up last month, their median prices also rose.

The MAR said closing activity picked up in August as buyers wanted to get into their homes before the start of the new school year.

Locally, sales volume rose in both Worcester and Middlesex counties at rates close to the statewide percentages in the two reports. But the median price of single-family homes sold in August fell close to 4 percent in Worcester County over August 2011, while they rose just under 2 percent in Middlesex County. The median for condominiums rose less than 1 percent in Middlesex County but fell close to 7 percent in Worcester County.

Sale price increases were strongest in the Boston area, along with Bristol County and the islands. Sale price changes in three Western Massachusetts counties – Berkshire, Franklin and Hampshire – were among the weakest, with the medians all falling more than 7 percent.

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Mass. Home Sales Continue Rise