Massachusetts home sales hit 10-year low for January

WALTHAM, Mass. --The recent slowdown in the state's housing market deepened in January as sales of single-family homes fell to the lowest level for that month in a decade, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors said Tuesday.

The 2,345 home sales statewide in January represented a 21 percent drop from sales in the same month a year earlier, and marked the lowest January total since 2,332 homes were sold in the first month of 1996.

While condominium sales rose 2.5 percent in January compared with the same month in 2005, the gain was the second-smallest in the past 12 months, the Waltham-based association said.

An increase in the state's inventory of unsold homes helped limit price increases, with the statewide median selling price for single-family homes essentially unchanged from a year ago at $345,500 in January. The median price declined 2.4 percent compared with December, when the median was $354,000.

The median condo price in January rose 1.9 percent from a year ago to $270,000 -- a 1.8 percent decline from December of 2005.

"Buyers were faced with higher mortgage rates, increased inventory levels, and bold predictions of major price corrections last fall, prompting many to postpone their home search until after the first of the year," said David Wluka, the association's president.

The January numbers were released two weeks after the association reported Massachusetts' expensive housing market softened in 2005, with trends favoring buyers accelerating late in the year.

But Wluka said a short-term turnaround appears to be under way.

"We've seen a measurable increase in buyer traffic over the past several weeks, however, due to the mild weather, a drop in mortgage rates, and more realistic pricing on the part of home sellers," he said.

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On the Net:

Massachusetts Association of Realtors: http://marealtor.com