Home sales and prices appear up in Central Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Home sales in the Birmingham area climbed 9.4 percent in April as compared to the same month in 2012. The analysis includes Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair and Blount Counties. The Alabama Center for Real Estate reports that there 1,064 units sold during April. The median sales price also climbed 17.4 percent, from $138,000 last April to $161,950 this April. With the uptick, sales for the first four months of the year are up 7.9 percent compared with 2012. About 86 percent of the April sales were existing single family home sales; 11 percent were new home sales; 3 percent were condominiums. That distribution is about the same as April 2012. Interest rates for long-term mortgages have been at or near historic lows throughout 2013.