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Portland鈥檚 residential housing market continued to see healthy growth in October as home prices increased and as sales posted some of the best numbers since October 2006.

The average sales price for a Portland home increased slightly last month to $273,400 鈥� 3.7 percent higher than a year ago, according to the October market action report from the Regional Multiple Listings Service. The median sales price also increased another $2,100 to $232,500 last month, which is 5.2 percent higher than at the same time in 2011.

But sales prices weren鈥檛 the only measurement on the rise, as both pending and closed sales increased in monthly and year-over-year figures.

Pending sales grew 5.8 percent to 2,177 transactions (a 15.9 percent improvement over last year), and closed sales were up 11 percent from September with 2,103 (42.7 percent more than a year ago). Despite that activity, new listings have not grown at the same pace.

George Perkins, principal broker for 20/20 Properties Inc., and an RMLS board member, said one reason may be a decrease in the amount of foreclosures entering the market as a result of the foreclosure process being weighed in the Oregon Court system, and as banks opt to pursue judicial foreclosures instead of the traditional non-judicial route. Judicial foreclosures take longer, he said.

鈥淚 have two properties right now that are in redemption,鈥� Perkins said of the right of redemption process that allows borrowers 180 days to reclaim their property after a sheriff鈥檚 sale. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e just sitting there doing nothing.鈥�

With 2,414, October鈥檚 new listings were slightly lower by monthly and yearly comparison figures. That鈥檚 helped drop the available housing inventory to a supply of 3.8 months.