Mass. Home Sales On The Rise For Second Month

Single-family home sales grew between 13 and 5 percent in January compared with the same time last year, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and real-estate tracking firm The Warren Group.

"Now prices have moderated and buyers are feeling more confident and willing to take advantage of that," said association President Laurie Cadigan. "Hopefully we'll have some balance back in the market."

But January sales were 32 percent lower than December sales, a decline downplayed, according to Cadigan.

"It's actually pretty normal. When you look back at the data, there's always historically a drop in sales from December to January," she said. "The drop is typically that significant-- 20 to 30 percent."

At the same time, median home prices dropped 5 percent — now standing at about $285,000 — and condo sales fell 5 percent.

Vincent Valvo, editor-in-chief of Banker and Tradesman, said we will likely see mixed reports in the months to come.

"We do expect it to go back down again, because we're going to be comparing months that don't have closings based on an $8,000 tax credit that people got," Valvo said.

Valvo said home sales might not show consistent improvement until sometime this summer.