Mass. home sales for January best since '07

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January home sales in Massachusetts reached their highest level since 2007, according to two groups that regularly track real estate transactions.

According to The Warren Group of Boston, single-family home sales across the Bay State were up 5 percent over January 2013, to 2,728. That is the highest for the month since 2007, when 2,953 were sold.

"After ending 2013 on a mini slump for housing sales, these are impressive numbers for the middle of winter," said CEO Timothy M. Warren Jr. "Still, low inventory continues to plague the market. The market needs more sellers to list their homes for sale in order to keep the rally in real estate moving ahead."

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) reported a more modest increase in sales, with 2,725, up 0.7 percent over a year ago. MAR said 2,875 homes were sold in January 2007. Last month’s sales did, however, mark the sixth consecutive month of decreases, dropping 29 percent from December, when 3,782 homes were sold. MAR said it’s typical to have a double-digit decline between December and January.

According to The Warren Group, sales were up 10 percent in Middlesex County, compared with 2013, to 594. Meanwhile, sales dropped nearly 1.9 percent in Worcester County, to 366.

The lack of inventory continued to push prices upward, with The Warren Group reporting the median price at its highest level for January since 2008, up 12.5-percent to $315,000. That marked the seventh time in 12 months that the median jumped by a double-digit percentage. MAR reported similar numbers, with a median of $320,000, up 14.3 percent from a year ago.

In Middlesex County, the median price rose 8.14 percent, to $405,000, while in Worcester County, it was up 15.8 percent to $225,750.

"Because we experienced a seven-year slump in the real estate market, there is pent-up demand for homes to purchase. The lack of homes available to purchase is causing prices to grow at these double-digit rates. Buyers are hoping that the spring market will bring many more homes for sale and provide more choice," Warren said.

The Warren Group also said condominium sales were up nearly 17 percent in January, to 1,144. It was the first January since 2008 that saw more than 1,000 condo sales. The median price was up 24 percent, to $300,000, the highest since the group began tracking data in 1987.
Meanwhile, MAR said 1,058 condos were sold in January, up 4.1 percent from 2013 with the median at $300,500, up 20 percent from a year earlier.

MAR said inventory of single-family homes at the end of January was down 20.4 percent from 2013, to 15,246 listings, translating into a 3.6-month supply. It was the 23rd consecutive month of decreases. The average home was on the market for 109 days in January compared to 128 days in January 2013.