2 reports: Mass. home sales perking up

Two different real estate reports out today offered slightly different snapshots of the Massachusetts housing market, but both were more upbeat than the reports of previous months.

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors said statewide housing sales rose in July after four straight months of declines, and added that the median selling price of a single-family home increased 1.3 percent in July to $365,775, according to a new report.

According to the association, the July sales volume of single-family homes sold in the Bay State was 4,363, up 6 percent from July 2006.

But a report from the Warren Group, a Boston-based provider of real estate data, found that July sales rose only 1.5 percent on a volume basis, the second time this year that sales have risen in a month.

"This is a welcome change for many after the significant declines in sales in May and June when sales dropped 9.1 percent and 8.3 percent respectively," Timothy Warren Jr., chief executive of the Warren Group, said in a statement.

The Warren Group, which uses a different method to calculate data than the realtors group, said that the July median price for a Massachusetts single family home fell 4.6 percent from $338,400 in July 2006 to $323,000 in July 2007.

Referencing sales volume, Timothy Warren added in his statement, "While the July sales numbers represent an encouraging start to the second half of the year, it is likely that the Bay State's home market will continue to experience significant softness in the months ahead, with tightening mortgage underwriting standards and increasing foreclosure rates both factors that will slow its recovery."

Doug Azarian, president of the Massachusetts Realtors Association, noted improving signs in his statement.

"It is encouraging to see sales go up in July after four straight months of year-over-year declines," Azarian said.

Massachusetts condominium sales fell 0.1 percent to 1,933 units as the median selling price rose 6.3 percent from a year ago to $293,500, the realtors association said.

According to the Warren Group, statewide July condo sales declined 1.3 percent from 2,693 to 2,658, and the median condo price increased 0.9 percent from $279,900 in July 2006 to $280,000 in July 2007.

July is hardly the busiest month for the housing market in Massachusetts, where activity often peaks in the spring.

A Globe story last month characterized the spring real estate market in Massachusetts as a "washout."

Meanwhile, the housing market has Wall Street fretting about problems in the subprime mortgage market triggering a domino effect for the larger economy.

Those subprime problems have some mortgage lenders tightening credit standards, and there are concerns that such moves could be a drag on the housing market in the coming months by thinning out the number of potential buyers.

Azarian of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors addressed some of those concerns in his statement.

"While the tighter lending standards may have taken some buyers out of the market, it appears that those who have good credit and some equity are getting the financing they need and are buying again," he said.

Another point worth noting, the realtors group said: The statewide inventory of single-family homes and condos on the market as of July 31 was 53,966, down 17 percent from the same day in 2006.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)