At 4,278 homes, total sales reached the highest ever recordedfor the month of October, up slightly from October 1999's totalsales of 4,272. Total home sales so far are ahead of last year'space, with 46,878 existing homes sold so far--slightly ahead of the46,763 totaled in 1999. "Regardless of where we finish in 2000,this year will rank as one of the strongest, if not the strongest,ever recorded," says Frankie Jefferson, association chairman.

The median price of single-family existing homes has dipped to$116,500. Inventory has continued to rise, to 26,659 in October, upover September's 26,494 tally. This is the largest inventory sinceOctober 1997, indicating some softness in the market.Total dollarvolume had closed in October at $632,068,456, up 13.8% over October1999's total. Year-to-date total dollar volume figures are$7,001,308.979, an increase of 12.1% over last year's total for thesame period.

October's median price of $116,500 is 14.2% higher than lastOctober's $102,000. Meanwhile, buyers have opened 3,203 contractsin October, a slight decrease from October 1999. The pending salesare a traditional indicator of closed sales for the ensuingmonths.