“This is a much-needed boost for the state’s housing market,” said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. “We haven’t had a double-digit gain in monthly home sales since last October. And the declines in home prices have been getting smaller every month.”

Warren said low interest rates, reduced prices, the first-time homebuyer tax credit and improved consumer confidence helped fuel buyer interest in late spring which led to an increase in closed sales in July.

“We started to see a trend toward moderation in June and it looks like that continued through July,” Warren explained. “Still, we’re not out of the woods yet. We have to see consistent gains in sales going forward for home prices to stabilize.”

Single-family home sales jumped 11.8% to 4,977 from 4,453 in July 2008. It was the first increase in monthly home sales year-over-year in 2009. Year-to-date sales are down 6.3% to 21,524 from 22,974.

The median selling price for single-family homes dipped 4.7% to $305,000 from $320,000. Monthly median home prices fell by double-digit percentages year-over-year in the first five months of 2009. But in June and July, home prices slipped by only single-digit percentages. The median price for homes sold through July retreated 11.4% to $280,000 from $316,000.