Single-family home sales in Massachusetts dropped 10.3 percent in January while prices plunged by 20.2 percent compared to a year earlier, according to a report released today by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

There were 1,908 single-family home sales in January, down from 2,126 in January 2008. It was the lowest sales volume for the month of January in the 22 years that The Warren Group has been tracking the Massachusetts residential real estate market. The median home price fell to $259,250 from $325,000 in January 2008.

"This is a really slow start to this year’s housing market," said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group. 

"It’s not entirely unexpected that sales and prices are off because the employment picture and foreclosure activity really hasn’t improved much. We had seen a little improvement in single-family home sales late last year, with sales transactions climbing three out of the last four months in 2008. But that didn’t carry over to January."

January marked the fifth consecutive month that single-family median home prices have been off by double-digit percentages. The $259,250 median price is the lowest it’s been since March 2002.

Condominium sales hit a 17-year low for the month of January. There were 806 condo sales statewide in January, a 29 percent decrease from 1,136 during the same month in 2008. The median condo price fell 22.2 percent to $209,900 in January from $269,950 a year earlier.

"The drop in condo prices is huge. It’s the steepest percentage drop in monthly median condo prices, year-over-year, since we started looking at the housing market over two decades ago," said Warren. "This shows that condo prices are finally starting to give after holding up much better and longer than single-family home prices."