In a spate of good news for real estate agents, 389 single-family homes sold in November in Wilmington, according to statistics from the Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors (WRAR).

That is 76.8 percent more homes than in November 2008, when only 220 homes changed hands. On the down side, homes sold at an average price of $223,697, down about $27,000 from $250,546 in 2008.

“I’m real happy to see September, October and November were better than '08,” said April McDavid, president of WRAR and an agent with Intracoastal Realty.

“That was the first time that we had beat ’08, the average sales price was down, but the number of sales were up. If we can continue to do that each month – I think it’s a good uptick in the market, I hope December will prove to be the same.”

In October, 447 homes were sold up from 358 homes in October 2008, an almost 25 percent change.

September’s numbers were closer to those of 2008. In September 2009, 396 homes were sold while 374 homes were sold in September 2008.

McDavid also said that the numbers may be up because of the first-time homebuyers credit, but that the average sales price reflect a different side of the equation.

“Prices have decreased, but the good side of that is that home buying is more affordable in our area, " McDavid.