Report: Home Sales Rise, Median Price Drops in January

Statewide home sales have bounced back a bit after a 5 percent dip in December, according to a recent report from The Warren Group. 

Single-family home sales rose more than 3 percent in January 2012, according to the report, while the median price dropped nearly 4 percent; median prices have dropped consecutively for the past four months.  

In total, 2,425 single-family homes sold across the state in January, up from 2,348 in January 2011. The median sale price, however, decreased by 3.7 percent, or $260,000. The median price in January 2011 was $270,000.  

The number of homes sold in Arlington remained the same from January 2011 January 2012, with 10 units sold in each of the two months, according to numbers provided by David Sears, a Sales Manager of William Raveis Realty in Arlington.

Adding to that, the median sales price of a single family home in Arlington dropped from $482,450 in January 2011 to $462,000 in January 2012. 

Things were a bit different in Concord, though, with only nine homes sold in January 2012, as opposed to 17 sold in January 2011, according to Sears's data. Moreover, the median price of a single family home increased from $665,000 in January 2011 to $915,000 in January 2012. 

In Belmont, the number of single-family homes sold rose from four in January 2011 to six in January 2012. Adding to that, the median sales price per home dropped from $717,500 in January 2011 to $617,500 in January 2012.

And in Lexington, the number of homes sold increased from 10 in January 2011 to 15 in January 2012, with the median sales price dropping from $1,023,000 last January to $708,000 in January 2012. 

“Currently, mortgage rates are lower than they have ever been, and even without the government program which gave first-time home buyers a credit, home sale prices have increased in 2011, compared to 2010,” said Anne Mahon, a sales associate with Century 21 Adams in Arlington. “Discussions with other agents have shown me that properties are getting pulled off market rapidly when priced right, as buyers want to get in before the spring market brings competitive bid situations.”

Mahon added, “My conclusion is that the market has improved, that buyers are aggressive with demand of the fewer properties on the market, and that home values are increasing steadily. Consumers are feeling more confident with the economy as the stock market values increase, and jobs, especially in Massachusetts, are coming back strong. People are moving from other states to Massachusetts in search of employment and looking for a place to reside.