October Bay State Home Sales Jump 20 Percent

A total of 4,044 single-family homes sold in Massachusetts in October, a 21 percent increase from 3,340 sales in October 2011.Year-to-date sales are up almost 22 percent at 39,491, compared to 32,428 during the same period a year ago.

“Home sales for the first 10 months of the year have already surpassed sales in all of 2011,” said The Warren Group CEO Timothy M. Warren Jr. “Record low mortgage rates, an improved economy and growing consumer confidence are boosting the housing market in Massachusetts and around the country.”

The median price of single-family homes remained unchanged at $270,000 in October. This is the lowest monthly median price since March, when prices were $263,000. The median price for homes sold January through October was $287,500, down almost 1 percent from $290,000 in the prior year.

In October, condominium sales statewide rose 48.8 percent, increasing to 1,607 from 1,080 a year ago. Year-to-date condo sales are up 29 percent to 16,239 from 12,559 during the same period last year.

The median condo price inched up to $255,000 in October, a 0.79 percent increase from $253,000 a year earlier. The year-to-date median price of condos in the Bay State is $275,000, up 0.73 percent from $273,000 a year ago.