Firm ground for local home prices - Orlando Sentinel

That was virtually unchanged from July but was 15 percent higher than August 2010. When the median sales price in July exceeded the previous year's median by 6 percent, it was the first time in four years that the local housing market had managed a year-over-year gain in resale prices. Phillips and Bay Hill as areas that have been attracting more buyers than other areas, and the Avalon community in east Orange County as one that's quickly recovering from an earlier spate of foreclosures. The median last month for bank-owned sales was $81,750; for short sales it was $96,950. Total sales were down from last year, but the mix was improved, the local Realtors noted: The number of foreclosure sales dropped 51 percent compared with August 2010, while short sales and "normal" sales were each up 32 percent. Total inventory was down 39 percent from August 2010; the number of single-family homes was down 36 percent, while the number of condo units for sale was down 52 percent. All comments are filtered for vulgar language, for web addresses and for e-mail addresses. Those will cause comments to generate an error message or not to post. The Sentinel makes no guarantee of comments' factual accuracy. Readers may report inappropriate comments by clicking the Report Abuse link. Dustin Hoffman rounds up Great Brits for his film directing debut #connect-container {float: left;width: 330px;}. Free Wi-Fi Find places to bring your laptop and settle down for some Web surfing. Realtors