Neither the economic downturn nor a lull in consumer spending seemed to affect home sales and prices in Southeastern Massachusetts last year.

Unlike other Bay State regions, single-family home sales and prices in Bristol and Plymouth counties shot up. In Bristol County especially, single-family homes sales and prices surged to the biggest percentage increase in the last four to five years.

New construction in the region, low interest rates and the expansion of public transportation providing better access to many southeastern communities buoyed home sales and prices, according to local Realtors.

And since commuter train lines are slated for further expansion, making the region even more accessible in the near future, some Realtors said that the region’s home prices will continue to increase at a similar pace.

“They’re [prices] going to continue to increase,” said Realtor Betsy Q. Hines, explaining that the Old Colony Commuter Rail Line will be extended into parts of Scituate. Hines, owner of Betsy Hines Realtors in Marshfield, estimated as much as a 20 percent annual increase in single-family homes prices in Plymouth County in upcoming years.

“It [home value appreciation] has been phenomenal. When we think it’s slowing down, it just doesn’t,” said Donna M. Kiernan, a Realtor with Premier Properties GMAC in Raynham and president of the North Bristol County Board of Realtors.

Sales of single-family homes spiked almost 23 percent last year in Bristol County, according to The Warren Group, the parent company of Banker & Tradesman. Some 4,466 homes were sold in Bristol County last year compared to 3,638 in 2000. The sales jump came after only a modest increase in single-family home sales in 2000 – nearly 3 percent – and a 7 percent drop in 1999 compared to the previous year. The Warren Group’s statistics reflect all sales transactions logged at registries of deeds throughout Massachusetts.

Meanwhile, Bristol County single-family home prices increased almost 14 percent, according to The Warren Group. The median price for a single-family home was $175,000, up from $153,950 in 2000.

Sales of single-family homes were also higher in Plymouth County, following a two-year sales decline. According to The Warren Group, 5,778 single-family homes were sold in Plymouth County in 2001, almost 4 percent more than 5,564 transaction registered during the previous year.

The median price for a single-family home in Plymouth County rose 18 percent – from $179,000 in 2000 to $211,600 in 2001.

The overall sales increase in Plymouth County last year surprised Hines, who said that business slowed down considerably after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the nation.

“I’m very surprised, because two months of the year were taken out of the equation,” said Hines, who is current president of the 1,700-member Plymouth and South Shore Association of Realtors and a member of The Realty Guild.

However, the stock market slump might have had, and may continue to have, a positive effect on real estate, according to industry watchers.

“I think that people realized that real estate ended up being a better investment than the stock market,” said Hines.

Overall sales of single-family homes decreased almost 4 percent in Massachusetts last year, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, which bases its statistics on sales transactions handled by real estate agents.

Only the southeastern and western regions of the state saw more sales of single-family homes in 2001, according to MAR.

“What we’re finding is that homebuyers, particularly entry-level buyers, are having to extend their home search further south and west of metropolitan Boston to communities where prices remain more affordable,” said MAR President David S. Drinkwater, in a press release announcing the group’s sales statistics.

Unlike MAR, The Warren Group includes all sales transactions, including homes sold directly by owners without the involvement of an agent, in its statistics. However, year-end data for all registries of deeds are not yet available and The Warren Group has not yet compiled its 2001 statistics for the entire state.

Opening Up

One reason sales were up may be because a lot of land recently “opened up” for housing development in Plymouth, said Hines. Toll Bros., a Pennsylvania-based builder, is constructing subdivisions in the region. In addition, The Pinehills – a 3,000-acre development that will bring about 2,800 homes to Plymouth when completed – has been in the works for several years.

The homes in the town of Plymouth are also more affordable, she said. A buyer can spend $100,000 less on a home in Plymouth than in communities like Marshfield or Scituate, she said.

In Plymouth, single-family home sales increased nearly 7 percent to 755 sales last year from 706 in 2000, while the median price last year was 21 percent higher. The median was $209,900 last year, up from $172,750, according to The Warren Group.

Hines emphasized that transportation has been a critical component of the region’s real estate boom. Towns like Kingston, which were once considered too remote, are now more attractive to buyers because they can commute via public transportation to Boston or other city jobs. The train also gives commuters access to communities like Plympton, Halifax, Pembroke and parts of Duxbury.

Kiernan echoed those remarks, saying that the train line has brought even more people into Plymouth County towns like Bridgewater and Lakeville, both of which have featured station stops on the Old Colony line since 1997.

“It is definitely attracting more people down this way,” she said.

There has been a lot of new home construction in many Bristol County communities because there are not enough existing homes for sale to meet the demand, said Kiernan. A few subdivisions have been built or are in the works in Bristol County communities like Raynham. Single-family home sales in that community were up 20 percent, with 140 sales recorded last year compared to 116 the previous year, according to The Warren Group.

Kiernan said she has encountered many buyers who initially say they don’t want to build a new home but end up doing so because they can’t find an existing home for sale.

There is still land available in parts of Bristol County, according to Kiernan, including East and North Taunton, which is attractive because that portion of the city abuts Interstate 495.

In Taunton, 424 single-family homes were sold last year, about a dozen more than the prior year. Meanwhile, median prices rose 11 percent to $178,250 in 2001 from $159,900 in 2000.

Even industrial cities like Bristol’s Fall River and New Bedford saw more single-family home sales in 2001. In Fall River, single-family home sales were up 30 percent – from 239 in 2000 to 310 last year – while New Bedford had 606 single-family home sales, up from 539 in 2000.