Mass. Housing Sales Up For 7th Straight Month

Sales of single-family homes were up in Massachusetts in January for a seventh consecutive month, but median prices continued to fall.

Two organizations that track the market say sales were up between 3 and 4 percent last month when compared to January 2011.

"The January number is the highest we've seen for five years now," said The Warren Group CEO Timothy Warren, "so you know, we have strong indications that the market is picking up."

But the median price dropped 4 percent to $260,000, according to The Warren Group, and 5 percent to $265,000, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. The organizations use slightly different figures in their calculations.

Median prices have dropped for several months in a row.

Warren said he expects that trend to continue and that home prices typically lag behind increased home sales when the housing market is in recovery.

"I don't have quite as much optimism that we're gonna see a rise in home values quite yet, but we'll see, we'll see more homes sold," Warren said.With reporting by The Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom