Sales and prices of single-family homes in Massachusetts fell by more than 11 percent in 2008, delivering one of the slowest housing markets in more than two decades, according to the latest report from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

A total of 40,124 single-family homes were sold in 2008, an 11.5 percent decrease from the 45,339 transactions in 2007. It was the lowest number of home sales since 1991, when 39,181 homes were sold, according to The Warren Group. December home sales actually climbed 4.7 percent to 2,874 from 2,745 in December 2007. December was the third month in 2008 that year-over-year monthly sales increased. But the bump-up was not enough to boost home sales for the entire year.

"Single-family home sales last year were just slightly above the sluggish sales volume we saw during the last housing downturn in the early 1990s," said Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group. "In three of the last four months of 2008, single-family home sales climbed. It feels like there may be some pent-up demand for housing and that the market is trying to move again, but unless sales volume picks up considerably for the next several months, we really won’t see prices rebound."

The median price for a single-family home dropped to a five-year low, tumbling 11.6 percent to $305,000 from $345,000 in 2007. That was the biggest drop in year-over-year prices since The Warren Group started tracking the residential real estate market in 1987.  In December, the median home price plunged 17.8 percent to $267,250 from $325,000 in December 2007. December was the seventh month in 2008 that year-over-year monthly prices were off by double-digit percentages.

"Home prices in Massachusetts have been declining for the last three years, and the median is now $50,000 — or 14 percent — lower than 2005, when prices hit a peak," said Warren. "Last year’s price decline was more extreme than any of the price drops the state has experienced in over two decades."

Condominium sales slumped 22.4 percent in December, falling to 1,278 from 1,647 in December 2007. For the year, condo sales plummeted 23.1 percent to 20,132 from 26,162.

The median condo price fell 12.6 percent in December, marking the steepest monthly price drop for 2008. December’s median condo price was $235,000 compared to $269,000 in December 2007. But condo prices remained fairly steady throughout the year, slipping 1.8 percent to $275,000 in 2008 from $280,000 in 2007.

"Condo owners are probably in less of a position to compromise on price because they’re more likely to own the property for a shorter amount of time than single-family home owners. As a consequence, the units aren’t turning over as quickly," said Warren.