The Florida housing market continues to thrive as closed sales, pending sales, median prices and average prices all increased in November, according to Florida Realtors. The Sunshine State also saw a decrease in inventory, indicating healthy buyer activity.

"The sizzle is back," said 2012 Florida Realtors President Summer Greene. "With home sales strongly trending up and the supply of homes for sale drying up, the market is hot. And we expect these trends to continue into 2013 with the jobs market improving, low mortgage rates continuing and consumer confidence getting stronger."

Single-family closed sales jumped 24.4% since last November, totaling 17,072 homes sold. Meanwhile, pending sales for single-family homes rose 45.8% year-over-year.

The median Florida sales price in November was $150,000, up 11.2% compared to a year ago. According to the National Association of Realtors, the national median sales price rose 10.9% in October year-over-year.

"Particularly striking in this market is the degree to which prices have risen," said Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. John Tuccillo. "This might be expected to be the case for median prices as investors absorb the inventory at the lower end of the market, but average prices are up dramatically as well – and that suggests we're seeing real appreciation occur in the marketplace, another sign of how solid Florida's real estate recovery has become."

mhopkins@housingwire.com