Prices Up, Listings Down, in Many Markets

National home sales and median price listings in September rose from a year ago with the home inventory down about 20%, according to multiple reports Thursday.  These positive signals were offset by a continued slight downward trend in home sales prices, down 3.3% from a year ago.  Of the 53 markets surveyed by the company,

17 saw yearly sales price increases, including Detroit (13.4%), Miami (8.4%) and Orlando, Fla. (7.8%).  Home sales nationally went up 7.6% from September 2010 with increases in 44 of 53 markets, including Des Moines, Iowa, (31.3%) and Minneapolis (30.1%).  Single-family home, condo, townhouse and co-op inventory was down 3.27% from August and down 20.09% from September last year, according to Realtor.com.  This year-over-year decrease could mean a return to seasonal patterns and higher prices in the coming months, though markets are still fragile and could weaken in bad economic conditions.