BLOOMINGTON - Twin City home sales were virtually flat in July. Real estate agents and builders sold a total of 232 homes last month, off four properties from June's 236 sales, according to statistics from the Bloomington-Normal Association of Realtors.

They sold 34 new homes, which was six more than in June, and 198 existing homes, a drop of 10 from the previous month.

Laurie Christensen, president of the association, is encouraged by that stability.

"Hopefully, that will continue another month or two," Christensen said. "We're not really dropping."

Across the country, existing home sales fell 2.6 percent from May to June and were 15.5 percent lower than June 2007, the most recent figures available from the National Association of Realtors.

In the Twin Cities, July 2008 existing home sales were down about 23 percent and new sales were down 33.3 percent from July 2007. Total home sales were down about 24.7 percent from the 308 properties sold in July 2007. Total year-to-date sales in Bloomington-Normal are down 17.8 percent, with new construction down 4.8 percent and resale statistics down almost 20 percent.

Those lower figures are a correction in the real estate market, which had been riding a high wave, Christensen said. Even though statistics are lower than 2007 numbers - which also ended the year 8.7 percent behind 2006 sales - the industry is not having a bad year, she said.

"It did peak. We're back to more of an average-good, stable real estate market here," Christensen said.

New construction at least is holding its own better than it has in recent years. That segment of the industry was down 17.6 percent in 2007 and 14.2 percent in 2006. The improvement could be attributed to the opening of new subdivisions in town, Christensen said.

The average price for both new and existing homes dropped from month-to-month, but the average home price for all properties sold increased from June. The overall average also is lower than the July 2007 price of $179,413.

New homes sold for an average of $264,406, down from $268,560 in June. The average existing home's price was $159,395, slightly lower than the previous month's average of $159,830. The average price for all homes sold last month was $174,785, up from $172,730 the month before.