Home prices in Greater Boston last year climbed at the fastest rate in at least a decade, according to a closely watched housing index. Prices jumped nearly 10 percent in 2013 in the Boston metropolitan region, accelerating from about 4 percent in 2012, according to the SP/Case-Shiller index. Nationally, prices increased 13.5 percent, after rising about 7 percent in 2012.
Massachusetts home sales last month rose 5 percent from a year ago, the best January since 2007, according to the Warren Group, a Boston real estate tracking firm.