ANDERSON — Home sales in Madison County increases last month compared to a year earlier, but total sales for the year remained down overall.

Real estate firm F.C. Tucker Company reported that 171 homes were sold in Madison County in July, a nearly 12 percent increase over the 153 homes sold in July 2007.

Boone County was the only other central Indiana county to see a month-to-month increase.

For the first seven months of the year, the number of homes sold in Madison County was down 13.1 percent, which matched the total decline for the nine-county region.

“We’re still selling homes, and July was a good month and we’re pleased by that,” said Patty Kuhn, executive director of the Anderson/Madison County Association of Realtors.

“We’re hoping that this will continue and things will even out a little more,” she said. “Hopefully, by the end of the year we’ll see more growth.”

The number of homes on the market in July also dropped from a year earlier. Madison County had 1,127 homes for sale last month, compared to 1,286 in July 2007, a decline of 12.4 percent.

Housing inventory in central Indiana continued to drop in July by 7.4 percent compared to a year earlier.

The nine-county average sales price was $146,572, 5 percent lower than the same time last year.

“While the central Indiana real estate market continues to stabilize and even improve in a couple of submarkets, home buyers are still in a good position to find an affordably priced house throughout the Indianapolis area,” said H. James Litten, president of F.C. Tucker Company’s Residential Real Estate Services Division in a written statement.

“Sellers, too, should be encouraged by the fact that central Indiana homes are maintaining their value, and buyers are paying on average 95 percent of the sellers’ asking prices in central Indiana.”

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Pending single-family and condominium home sales in Madison County

- July 2007: 153

- July 2008: 171