In May, Mass. Home Sales Up, Prices Down

Home sales in Massachusetts are up for the fifth month in a row.

Separate reports out Tuesday from The Warren Group and the Massachusetts Realtors Association both find that sales of single-family homes climbed about 30 percent in May, compared to the same month last year.

The Warren Group said the 35-percent rise amounted to the highest number of monthly sales in two years, and the most homes sold statewide in the month of May since 2006.

"2006 seems like a different world at this point, so being able to compare this month to six years ago, seven years ago, is pretty encouraging," said the group's Cory Hopkins.

MAR said home sales jumped about 27 percent.

The median price of a single-family home, however, dropped more than 3 percent last month, compared to May 2011.

MAR President Trisha McCarthy said the combination of increasing sales and falling prices is moving the market unusually fast.

"If they're priced right and it's not a short sale or a foreclosure, they seem to be going off the market very quickly, almost within 30 days," McCarthy said.