Florida Condominium Sales Soaring; Median Price Dips to $82,400

The Florida real-estate report for October followed the trend that's been in place for months: higher home sales, lower home prices.

The state Realtors' association reported that 143,398 single-family existing homes sold during the month -- a 7 percent increase over the same period a year ago. The association also reported a 33 percent rise in statewide year-to-date condominium sales, with a total of 59,966 units sold.

Meantime, prices continued to slump. October's median price of $136,600 was off 3 percent from $140,900 a year earlier.

Despite the robust gain in sales -- or perhaps fueling those transactions -- condo prices plummeted to $82,400. That was down 22 percent from $105,200 in October 2009.

Nationally, home sales fell 2.2 percent in October vs. September. The U.S. median sales price for existing single-family homes in September, the latest month for which data were available, was $172,600, down 1.9 percent from a year earlier.