The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported May 6 that 1,794 homes were sold in April, a 21 percent jump over March's 1,478 home sales. The sales are 30 percent higher than April 2007.

In addition, 7 percent more condos and town houses on the Multiple Listing Service were sold in April, compared with March.

"We continue to see this as a good sign for the local housing market," the Realtor group's president, Patty Kelley, said. "With four months in a row of month-over-month gains in homes sold, we see this as a positive trend."

Properties owned by banks and other lenders accounted for more than half of the homes sold in April and that has created bargains since those homes are being sold below market prices, Kelley said.

The increase in sales comes as prices continue to fall. The median price of single-family homes sold in April was $235,875, down 3 percent from $243,169 in March. Prices are down 23 percent from April 2007.

Las Vegas housing analyst Steve Bottfeld said the valley will have to deal with thousands of foreclosures in 2008, but the increase in sales is a good sign. The Federal Reserve's reduction in interest rates has been the difference, he added.

"It is not about price, not about floor plan and not about design or location," Bottfeld said. "It is about the monthly payment, and that's why the interest rate change has been so important."

In the condo and town house market, the median price fell 5 percent to $155,000 in April. That's down 23 percent from April 2007.

The increase in sales, however, has prompted an increase in the housing inventory, which had been dropping in previous months. There were 22,942 homes listed for sales in April, up 179 from March, the Realtors' group reported. The inventory is 3 percent higher than it was in April 2007. Of those new listings, the median price was 3.6 percent lower than March and 23 percent below April 2007.

The number of condos and town houses for sale increased 1.7 percent in April to 5,373. That's 11.5 percent below a year ago. The April list price is 3 percent lower than March.

In April 53 percent of homes were sold within 60 days of their listing. That's up from 47 percent in March.