Home prices firm up as buyers emerge

Massachusetts house prices held steady in March, putting an end to the monthly price declines that have plagued sellers since last April.

The median price for a single-family house was $344,000 last month -- 0.1 percent more than year-ago prices -- the Massachusetts Association of Realtors reported yesterday in its monthly report on the real estate market. Condominium prices increased by 3 percent, to $279,000. The last time house prices increased was last April, while condo prices last posted a small gain in November.

"They're hovering where they were a year ago, which shows the market has stabilized," said Doug Azarian, president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

Prices firmed in reaction to strong sales in January and February, when unusually warm weather pushed the number of houses and condos sold above their levels a year earlier. However, March sales fell -- by 2.8 percent for houses and by 1.4 percent for condos -- though the magnitude of those declines was smaller than in prior months.

A separate report released yesterday by Warren Group, a Boston real estate information and publishing firm, said that median prices fell -- 1.6 percent for houses and 2.7 percent for condos. Those declines were also smaller than the price drops in prior months, which Warren Group said indicated "signs of stability" in the housing market.

Gary Dwyer, an agent with Buyer Agents of Boston, said more people are coming out this spring intending to buy because prices are more attractive. During the peak of the housing boom in 2004 and 2005, first-time home buyers in particular were put off by bidding wars and by properties that were too expensive or in poor shape for the price.

"Sellers are pricing a lot closer to what market value is -- lower. Also the interest rates have been stable, which keeps it much more affordable, particularly for first-time buyers," he said.

Two of Dwyer's clients, Hillary and Peter Sturman, began house hunting in 2005, but prices were too high and the market frenzy was somewhat overwhelming. After marrying in April 2006, the newlyweds began looking again but price declines actually delayed the search.

"My dad would always call and say he read something saying prices were going to drop even more," Hillary Sturman said.

In recent weeks, the couple looked at condos in Roslindale and Jamaica Plain, where they rent. They also looked in Arlington, where they pulled out of a bid after learning repairs on the unit would be costly. The Sturmans are now seriously considering a house in Framingham. Prices are lower there, and they found an arts-and-crafts-style home listed for $339,000 in good condition.

Until recently, "I said I would never, ever, in a million years live in Framingham," Hillary said. "I also said I wouldn't wear a big poofy wedding dress, but I did."

Real estate agents and economists said it's premature to declare a full turnaround. Foreclosure filings by lenders against homeowners behind on their mortgage payments continue to soar. Not all initial filings result in foreclosure, because homeowners may be able to renegotiate the loan or sell the house and pay the loan off.

But the number of auctions advertised for foreclosure sales more than doubled. In the first quarter, Warren Group said, there were 3,118 auctions, compared with 1,069 a year ago. A more stable market "could help some people in difficult situations find a way out" of foreclosure, said chief executive Timothy Warren in a statement.

Fred Breimyer, who was president in 2006 of the New England Economic Project, which tracks the region, predicted that April sales -- as in March -- "are going to be weaker." That's because warm weather spurred an early start to the spring market, artificially pushing up sales in January and February.

"There are some signs of stability coming into the market, but it's not fully stable," he said.

Kimberly Blanton can be reached at blanton@globe.com.