Inventory issues continue to plague the Boston housing market as intense competition drove home prices to record levels, according to the Greater Boston Association of Realtors.

The median price of a single-family home sold last month was $595,000, a 12.3 percent increase over last April’s $530,000 and a new record high for the month, the association said. Condos sold for a median price of $523,500, a 9 percent increase from April 2016’s median price of $480,456.

That’s good news for the few people selling their homes in the Boston area, but it’s an unwelcomed development for the market and those looking to buy. Boston, as one of the most expensive housing markets in the country, has not had much luck in reversing its affordability crisis in recent months.

“The lack of inventory is continuing to hinder sales activity as there simply isn’t enough homes on the market to satisfy buyer demand,” GBAR President Melody Skye Roloff said in a statement. “The competition for limited supply of listings is creating multiple offer situations which is driving up prices beyond the reach of some buyers, especially those at the entry level.”

Sales fall

Sales of single-family homes and condos fell in April compared to the same time last year. Single-family homes saw a 9.4 percent drop, selling 844 homes in April. That sales total is the ninth highest on record, but it wasn’t enough to best April 2016’s 932 homes sold, which is one of the highest totals ever, according to Timothy Warren, CEO of The Warren Group.  (The historical average for April is 867 homes sold.)

“The number of homes and condos sold slipped a bit in April,” Warren said in a statement. “But that is due to the fact that April last year was a gangbuster month with homes rocketing up 35.3 percent and condos gaining 18.7%. These benchmarks were too hard to match.”

Condo sales totaled 734 in April 2017, which was an 11.5 percent drop from the 829 units sold in April 2016, according to the Greater Boston Association of Realtors. April 2017’s sales total was the tenth highest on record.

Inventory still an issue

Active listings dropped 3.2 percent for single-family homes on a year-over-year basis, as just 2,768 homes were for sale last month. Condo listings went from 2,276 in April 2016 to 1,655 this year, according to the Greater Boston Association of Realtors.

Not only has that caused home prices to rise, it means that houses are going under contract much quicker. The average days to sale for single-family homes fell 22 percent to 38 days in April, while the condo market saw average days on market drop 117 percent to 32 days.

These trends of increased demand, bidding wars and higher home price will likely not stop until the inventory issue is solved, experts say.

“The same issue is affecting both markets – a severe lack of inventory,” said Cassidy Murphy, The Warren Group’s editorial and media relations director. “Without listings, the number of sales is absolutely going to drop year over year, and prices will rise. A lot of factors contribute to the lack of inventory, but unless that situation changes, these trends are likely to continue.”