Mass. Home Prices Rise To Highest Level Since 2007

The median price of a single-family home in Massachusetts rose last month to its highest level in almost six years, two organizations that track the state's real estate market announced Tuesday.

The rise in median prices in June went hand in hand with a slight increase in sales when compared with the same month last year, according to The Warren Group and the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

The median price jumped last month to $350,000, a 9 percent increase from June 2012, according to the Boston-based Warren Group, a publisher of real estate data. The Waltham-based realtors association reported a nearly 7 percent year-over-year jump to $350,500.

It was the ninth consecutive month of year-over-year price rises and the highest they have been since August 2007, both groups said.

"Rising median prices and the high number of closed sales in June are a good reflection of how active the Massachusetts real estate market was this past spring," realtors President Kimberly Allard-Moccia said. "The growing concern that our historically low interest rates would move higher and the continued lack of inventory prompted buyers to make offers that boosted up both prices and sales in June."

Warren Group Chief Executive Timothy Warren Jr. said "aggressive bidding is driving up prices," but also issued a few words of caution.

"We don't want to see prices rise to the point where homeownership becomes unaffordable," he said.

The realtors group reported a 1.6 percent increase in sales of single-family homes last month, while The Warren Group reported a 1 percent jump.

The organizations use slightly different methods in their calculations.

The news wasn't quite so good in the condominium market.

While median prices were up around 3 percent in June compared with the year-ago month, sales numbers were more modest. The Warren Group reported a 3 percent decrease, while the realtors reported an increase of less than 1 percent.