Bay State Home Prices Highest Since '07

A decrease in housing stock and concern that interest rates will increase are continuing to push home prices up, with two groups that track housing data saying the median home price in Massachusetts hit its highest level in nearly six years last month.

According to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and the Warren Group, median home prices in June reached levels not seen since August 2007. Both groups said the median price of a single-family home was $350,000, up at least 6 percent over last year. They said it was the ninth consecutive month that year-over-year home prices increased. The year-to-date median sale price was up more than 12 percent over 2012, the Warren Group said.

"Buyers have come out to the market in droves and aggressive bidding is driving up prices,” Warren Group CEO Timothy Warren Jr. said. “While not a problem at this juncture, I hope for more modest increases in the future. We don't want to see prices rise to the point where homeownership becomes unaffordable."

The median sale price in Worcester County last month was up 14 percent over last year, to $242,000. It rose just 2.5 percent in Middlesex County, to $450,000.

The MAR said there was an increase in home sales of 1.6 percent in June over last year, to 5,528. It was the third consecutive month of year-over-year increases. Sales were up 16 percent from the 4,755 homes sold in May, according to MAR. Meanwhile, the Warren Group said single-family home sales hit their highest level in three years, rising 1 percent over last year, to 5,591. It was the best June since 2010, when there were 5,662 sales.

The Warren Group said there were 1,412 sales in Middlesex County in June, up 2.2 percent over last year, but that sales dropped 5.4 percent in Worcester County, to 683.

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