Reports Show Mixed Results For Housing Market

BOSTON -- There were mixed messages Tuesday on the current real estate market.

Nationally, home sales fell for a sixth-straight month in August, hitting the lowest point in the past years. In Massachusetts, there were some signs of hope, but a lot depends on how you crunch the numbers.

Dedham real estate agent Mary Ellen McDonough showed a house that's been on the market for six months. She said her chances of selling it are better now that the price has been reduced nearly $40,000.

"The homes that are being sold are the ones that are being priced competitively. I don't think it's a dreary market. I think it's a more even market than in years past," McDonough said.

According to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, competitive pricing is helping paint a brighter picture in real estate sales.

The association's statistics say single-family home sales in August 2007 were up 6.6 percent over August 2006. Condominium sales were also up nearly 3.5 percent in that same time period.

Real estate experts said a major factor contributing to better sales figures is a decline in inventory in both single-family homes and condominiums.

The inventory of single-family homes last month was down 16 percent compared to August 2006. In that same time period condominium inventory dropped 22 percent.

"We can talk about statistics. You know what things have done what the percentage has been up and down or the other. In the end, what it really comes down to is supply and demand," said Mel Martocchia, of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

Martocchia said the recent drop in interest rates is also giving the market a slight boost.

"The easiest thing to do is to say last month, last year so many houses sold. The most difficult thing is what's going to happen next month or next year? Nobody really knows," he said.

McDonough is an optimist.

"It will turn around. The real estate market always turns around," McDonough said,

Realtors said competitive pricing is actually triggering bidding wars between buyers, sometimes resulting in the seller getting more than the asking price.

Home prices were up slightly this August over a year ago but they are not where they were two or three years ago.