The Detroit area experienced a 9.6% surge in home sales in July with 4,563 properties sold compared to 4,164 a year earlier, according to Realcomp. The data includes condo and residential homes sales across four Michigan counties in and around Detroit. Home prices in the four-county metropolitan area climbed 8.8% to $78,000 from $71,665 a year earlier. On average, homes in the area stayed on the market 88 days, down from 99 days a year earlier. Pending home sales that had yet to close across the entire MLS, which includes listings outside Michigan, were up 4.1% to 7,180 in July from 6,898 a year ago. Inventory system-wide hit 32,007 units. Of those, 3,847 are foreclosures and 28,160 are non-foreclosures, Realcomp said. Of the 5,701 homes closed last month, 689 were classified as short sales. Write to: Kerri Panchuk.