According to BostonHerald the sale of homes in Massachusetts increased 9.7 percent in Q1 this year as compared to 2011, continuing a trend that began in 2009 when the housing market bottomed out. The MLS Property Information Network says the state’s median sales price fell less than one percent to $260,000 Q1 2012 over the same period last year as sales of higher priced homes slowed. MHProNews.com has learned Nicolas Retsinas of Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies says, “Helping the trend toward home sales is climbing rents, which is directing once-reluctant home buyers toward purchasing property.”

(Photo credit: BostonHerald)