BOSTON -- There is some good news about the Massachusetts housing market as the number of single-family home sales rose for the third straight month.

But NewsCenter 5's David Brown reported that those numbers don't tell the whole story for towns on the South Shore.

Homes are selling quickly in some South Shore communities like Weymouth because of low prices and an $8,000 first-time home buying credit.

"We had four offers on the property that the seller had to choose between. Four very good, qualified buyers and the end result is a quick sale," said Rita Coffey of the Plymouth and South Shore Association of Realtors.

But quick sales are not the case region-wide.

"What we find is that it is very spotty. We are up in some areas like where the median price range fits the first time home buyers and we are down in areas where the property is very, very high," Coffey said.

The $301,000 median price in Weymouth is a bright spot for buyers. According to the Plymouth and South Shore Association of Realtors, from May 2008 to May 2009, home sales have jumped 45 percent. In Pembroke, sales are up 80 percent.

But during the same sales period, high-priced homes in Cohasset and Hingham sit on the market as sales in both towns drop 55 percent.

Even in Weymouth, some homes sit. One home has been on the market for 255 days, and in that time, the asking price has been slashed from $439,000 to $399,000.