Real Estate Market Heating Up

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Bay State home prices are on a winning streak the struggling Sox can only dream about right now.

The median price of a single-family home in Massachusetts edged up 1.7 percent in July, hitting $355,000. That marks the 22nd straight month in which prices headed up, not down, over the previous year, The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reports this morning.

A shortage of listings and a reviving economy are pushing prices up, even as the dearth of choices for buyers puts a dent in overall home sales, which fell 2.3 percent in July. (Condos followed the same pattern, with the median price rising 8.6 percent, to $315,000, while sales fell 6.7 percent.)

And as prices increase, the median home price in a number of affordable mainstays in suburbs across Greater Boston are now nearing or surging past the $400,000 mark, Warren Group numbers show.

Just take Medford, Franklin and Norwood, a trio of nice but no-frills middle class towns.

Just to the north of Boston, Medford's median price is now $420,000 while Norwood has reached $387,000. Prices in both towns have shot up more than 9 percent so far this year.

Out on 495, the median home prices in Franklin hit $415,200 during the first seven months of the year, up nearly 17 percent over 2013, Warren Group numbers show.

Meanwhile, other towns are also lining up to join the $400,000-plus club.

The median price of a house in Danvers is now $380,000 after a nearly 9 percent jump so far this year, while Dedham and Mansfield are both a step closer, at $390,000. (Dedham has long been a starter community for young home buyers.)

Down on the South Shore, Hanover just passed the $450,000 market after a 15 percent jump in home prices.

Honorable mentions to Stoneham and Shrewsbury, with both towns heading towards the $400,000s as well.