Numbers that came out yesterday from the Warren Group and and Massachusetts Association of Realtors paint a similar picture. Statewide, single-family home sales are increasing while prices continue to drop. In other words, it finally seems like we’re hitting the trigger point in the market where prices drop to the point it’s getting buyers off the sidelines. No doubt the general belief that mortgage rates will rise over 2011 is playing its part too.
Statewide, home sales rose 6.9 percent in December of 2010 (compared to a year ago). That’s the first sales number increase since June 2010. Prices continued their decline year-over-year. December’s numbers put single-family home prices 5.9 percent lower than December 2009. THAT certainly helps explain the boost in sales.
The condo market statewide remains in the odd pattern of slightly falling sales numbers, but rises in median prices. For December, sales slid 1.2 percent compared to a year earlier while the median price rose 3.1 percent.
