The region's spring home prices, hurt by a prolonged high number of foreclosures and short sales, only barely climbed from their winter doldrums last quarter, according to new statistics released Thursday.

The price of a median single-family home in New London and Windham counties during the second quarter hit $190,500 for the April-through-June period, up slightly from the first quarter's median of $182,000. But it was the worst spring for real estate prices in nine years, according to numbers provided by the Eastern Connecticut Association of Realtors, and sales of single-family homes fell nearly 30 percent when compared with the same period last year, plunging to their lowest level in the second quarter since records were kept starting in 2000.

Realtors association chief executive John Bolduc said the sales numbers were off dramatically because this spring's housing market did not include the tax credits that had been available last year. Last spring, the government had offered both an $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit and a $6,500 move-up buyer incentive that helped spur sales.

"The second quarter was when all the activity was (last year)," Bolduc said. "It's tough to beat an $8,000 tax credit."

Bolduc pointed out that six $1 million-plus homes sold during the spring, and that the average price of a home actually increased this year compared with last. He said this shows relatively stable prices and that there is activity in all price ranges, even though the bulk of sales consists of foreclosures, short sales and homes under $200,000 for first-time buyers.

Still, he admitted the supply of homes for sale at $400,000 and above is "astronomical," at one point earlier this year reaching a level that would require six years to fully resolve, given the current rate of sales - and assuming no other homes in the same range were added to the inventory.

And that's an unlikely scenario, given that Pfizer Inc. announced plans in February to reduce its local work force gradually by 1,100 by August of next year. But Bolduc said he doesn't believe the Pfizer move has had an impact on the market yet.

Still, Bolduc acknowledged a significant shift in the amount of time it takes to sell a home in the region. Shile a single-family home spent an average of 88 days on the market in the spring of last year, it lingered for 108 days before a sale last quarter.

Condominiums are faring slightly better, with sales off only 8.6 percent and prices falling 6.5 percent this spring compared to the same period last year.

Regional housing sales

New London and Windham county real estate sales, second quarter, 2011 versus 2010

Single-family sales: 656, down 29.7 percent

Condominium sales: 117, down 8.6 percent

Single-family median price: $190,500, down 9.3 percent

Condominium median price: $145,000, down 6.5 percent

Single-family days on market: 108, up 22.7 percent

Condominium days on market: 126, down 14.9 percent