Massachusetts home sales drop; median prices increase

It seems that individuals looking to move into a new home are not drawn to Massachusetts, as November marked the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year sales declines for single family homes in the state, The Warren Group reported.

Only 2,903 homes were sold in November, which is the fourth month this year where the state saw less than 3,000 home sales.

While Bay State home sales spiked during the first half of the year due to the home buyer tax credit, sales dropped after its expiration in June. In 2010, so far 37,718 homes have been sold in the state, a 1.3 percent decrease from the same period in 2009.

Despite the sales slump, Massachusetts homes have managed to sustain their value. The median price for single family homes sold from January to November was $297,500, up 4.6 percent from the year before. However, the Warren Group suspects that may be because buyers who qualified for the home buyer tax credit were seeking out less expensive starter homes during that time.

Housing prices across 30 major metropolitan cities fell by 3.1 percent between May and October, according to the FNC Residential Price Index, which reported that Orlando, Cincinnati and Washington, D.C. saw the largest declines.
 

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