Mass. Home Sales Jump In March

Massachusetts single-family home sales rose nearly 20 percent last month, compared to March 2011, two new reports show.

It's the ninth straight month of year-over-year increases, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. It's also the best March for sales since 2007, real estate tracking firm The Warren Group reports.

"The takeaway is really good," MAR President Trisha McCarthy told our Newscast unit just now. "Probably the market conditions, the growing confidence, the fact that we really didn't have a winter, probably resulted in this significant activity."

Median Massachusetts home prices, however, dropped in March (by 2 or 3 percent, the two reports show, respectively) — the sixth straight month of lower prices.

"In studying patterns of previous housing slumps and recoveries, I'm not surprised median prices are continuing to drop," Warren Group CEO Timothy Warren said. "Housing sales will continue to rise, but it will take several more months for median prices to follow."

Both MAR and The Warren Group found condominium sales and prices up in March.