As inventory levels across Massachusetts continued to shrink, the median sale price for both single-family homes and condominiums climbed in September on a year-over-year basis, according to a new report from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

Last month, there were 5,771 single-family home sales in Massachusetts, a 10.4 percent decrease from September 2020 when there were 6,439 transactions. Compared to September 2019 (5,031 transactions), single-family home sales increased 14.7 percent. In September 2021, the median single-family sale price increased 7.4 percent on a year-over-year basis to $509,000, up from $474,000 in September 2020, and up 27.8 percent from September 2019 when the median sale price was $400,000. This marked a new all-time high for the median sale price for the month of September and the sixth consecutive month that the median single-family home price has hovered above $500,000.

“The number of single-family home sales has now declined for three consecutive months,” Tim Warren, CEO of The Warren Group, said in a statement. “This is the direct result of a few different factors. First, there just aren’t enough homes for sale in Massachusetts. Historically, prospective buyers would just expand the radius of their home search to find a market with less competition, but with more people working remotely, this tactic doesn’t work like it used to. Second, single-family homes have just gotten too expensive for a lot of buyers. The people who can afford homes already have them, while those with more modest budgets have been left with next to no options.”

Year-to-date, there have been 45,838 single-family home sales in Massachusetts, a 7.2 percent increase from the first nine months of 2020. Meanwhile, the year-to-date median single family home price increased 16.1 percent on the same basis to $511,000.

There were 2,471 condominium sales in September, a 1.4 percent decrease from September 2020 when there were 2,506 condo sales. Compared to September 2019 (1,974 transactions), condo sales were up 25.2 percent. Meanwhile, the median sale price increased 6.7 percent on a year-over-year basis to $445,000 – a new high for the month of September. This also marked the fourteenth consecutive month that the median condo price has been above $400,000. Compared to September 2019 ($375,000), the median condo price was up 18.7 percent.

“This is the first slip we’ve seen in condo sales in 2021 when examining transactions on a year-over-year basis,” Warren said. “Like single-family homes, every month there are fewer and fewer condos available on the market, which is limiting buyers and pushing prices higher.”

Year-to-date, there have been 22,070 condo sales, a 29.6 percent increase from the first nine months of 2020 with a median sale price of $460,000, a 10.3 percent increase on the same basis.

According to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, only 6,366 single-family homes hit the market in September, along with 3,288 condos. That translates to an 11.75 percent drop over the same figure in September 2019 for single-family listings and a 6.72 percent increase for condo listings.

Final days on market rose slightly for single-family homes compared to August, to 20 days, while the same figure for condos dropped by one day, to 25 days. Total inventory was down to 5,875 single-families and 3,352 condos, 32 percent lower and 37.2 percent lower than September 2020, respectively. Months supply of inventory stayed flat from August to September at 1.2 months for single-families and rose slightly over the same period for condos, to 1.5.