Home prices in Massachusetts continued their upward march in July, but the number of home sales slipped for the first time this year. That’s according to new figures out Tuesday which depict a real estate market where houses are increasingly hard to come by.
The median price of a single-family house in Massachusetts climbed 2.7 percent in July to $369,000, according to The Warren Group, while condos jumped 3.7 percent to $350,000. The number of homes sold during the month, though, fell by 12.5 percent, as fewer owners listed their properties for sale.
A similar report from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, also out Tuesday, pointed in a similar direction, and noted that the number of single-family homes listed for sale in July was down 29 percent compared to the same month last year. It was the 54th straight month of year-over-year decline in the inventory of of available properties.
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That’s driving up prices and making it hard for buyers to land what houses are available, said MAR president Annie Blatz, who runs Kinlin Grover Real Estate in Brewster.
“The market continues to be intensely competitive,” she said. “Massachusetts needs a boost in supply more than ever.”
Tim Logan can be reached at tim.logan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @bytimlogan.