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Mass. Home Sales Plunge 28% In October

BOSTON (AP) -- Sales of single-family homes in Massachusetts plummeted by 28 percent last month when compared to October 2009, but median prices continued to rise.

Timothy Warren, CEO of the Warren Group, says the drop in home sales is attributed to the expiration of the tax credit. "In the first half of the year, the real estate market did very well, like gangbusters," Warren told WBZ News Radio's Mary Blake. "And starting in July, we've had four straight months of declines when we compare the same month with the previous year."

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Listen to Mary Blake's full interview With Timothy Warren.

The Warren group is a Boston-based organization that tracks real estate markets.

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors said although conditions for buying a home are good, including low interest rates, stable prices, and a rising employment rate, consumers are still not confident in their personal finances to take the plunge.

Both groups said the median price of single-family homes crept up 3 percent to the $290,000 range, the 12th consecutive month of higher prices according to the Realtors.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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