By Aglaia Pikounis

Optimists hoping 2009 would deliver some better news for the local housing market will have to wait some more.

 The Warren Group is releasing its January home sales and price report tomorrow and it looks like the year is off to a pretty weak start.

Single-family home sales and median prices in Massachusetts were off by double-digit percentages compared to the same month a year earlier.  

And condo prices are also starting to dive after remaining fairly flat for most of 2008 despite huge drops in sales transactions. In the last two months of 2008, the median condo price dropped about 12 to 13 percent compared to a year earlier. In January, the median selling price for condos fell even more sharply.

The million-dollar question: will the housing stimulus plan unveiled last week improve conditions?