Dover Home Sales Fall in July

Dover had its July home sales fall from nine last year to six last month, a 33 percent decline. Year-to-date sales are also down, from 38 to 24, according to data compiled by The Warren Group released this week.

The state, though, saw its first year-over-year increase in home sales since January. There were 3,847 homes sold last month, up from 3,590 in July 2010.

Banker & Tradesman Managing Editor Cory Hopkins said in a statement that the increase was a positive sign, but not overly so.

"While it's encouraging to see sales rise in July, we're comparing statistics to a very rough month of July last year," he said. "The expiration of the homebuyer tax credits hurt sales volume a year ago, which is skewing the actual picture of the market now."

Here are the home sales numbers for area towns:

• Easton's July home sales dropped by 63 percent, falling from 19 to seven, and year to date sales fell from 110 to 58.
• Foxborough saw its home sales decline from 13 last year to 10 last month. Year to date sales, though, were steady at 70.
• Mansfield's July home sales dropped from 14 in July 2010 to 10 last month. Year to date sales fell 13 percent, from 75 to 65.
• Medfield saw an increase in home sales, up from 14 last year to 19 last month. Sales are down slightly for the year to date, from 61 to 58.
• Norfolk's July home sales fell year-over-year, from 10 to eight, with year-to-date sales dropping from 59 to 42.
• Norton's July home sales were steady year-over-year at eight, though the town has seen a drop in year-to-date sales, from 78 to 59.
• Norwood saw a slight increase in July home sales, from 26 to 28. Year to date sales are down nearly nine percent, from 112 to 102.
• Plainville had a small climb in home sales, from six last year to eight last month. Year to date sales are down from 37 to 32.
• Sharon saw an increase in July home sales, from 20 last year to 24 last month. Homes sales are down 11 percent for the year to date, from 108 to 96.
• Stoughton home sales increased by around 29 percent last month, from 14 to 18. Year to date sales have fallen from 102 to 88.
• Wrentham had home sales down from nine in July 2010 to five in July 2011. Year to date sales are also down, from 55 last year to 44 this year.