Some good news for the Massachusetts housing market. Both the number of existing homes sold and the median price of homes sold posted gains in December. The Boston-based Warren Group reported that the median price of a Massachusetts home rose 10.4 percent in December to $295,000. The median price in December 2008 was $267,250.
Much of this gain can be attributed to the effect of the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit which expires the end of June 2010. The figures substantiate the feeling of many North Shore Realtors that the market has been very busy this winter, with full-price and multiple offers commonplace on lower-priced homes.
This is the sixth straight month that the number of home sales have increased in Massachusetts, but the first increase in the monthly median home price year-over-year since September 2007. Will it last? Foreclosures and the loss of jobs continue to hang over the housing market like storm clouds. If we see improvement in these areas, then we may see a housing recovery continue after expiration of the first-time home buyer tax-credit.
