Florida home and condominium sales statewide were on the rise last month, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors.

Florida’s home sales increased 3 percent with a total of 17,228 homes sold compared to 16,790 homes sold in May 2010. Condo sales last month increased 17 percent with a total of 8,338 units sold compared to 7,104 units May 2010.

Twelve Florida metropolitan areas reported higher home sales in May, which became the sixth consecutive month that Florida Realtors has reported higher year-over-year existing home and condo sales statewide.

Patricia Fitzgerald, President of Florida Realtors, explains that there are many opportunities in Florida’s local housing market.

“With low mortgage rates and a broad inventory of homes at affordable prices, qualified buyers are realizing that there may never be a better time to find the home they’ve been dreaming of in Florida,” Fitzgerald said.

May’s statewide existing condo median price was 6.9 percent higher than it was in April 2011. The median price for a home in May was $135,500 up 2.9 percent from April 2011 but down five percent from 2010. The sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties continue to drag down the median price because they sell at such a discounted rate compared to traditional homes.

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist, explains one of the reasons why the market is underperforming is due to tight credit.

“Although existing-home sales are expected to trend up unevenly through next year, unnecessarily tight credit is continuing to restrain the market along with a steady level of low appraisals that result in contract cancellations,” Yun said. “A robust economic and housing market recovery cannot occur as long as banks continue to hold onto huge cash reserves.”