The resale home market in Pinal County is turning around.

The area southeast of Phoenix recorded 1,680 sales in the first quarter of this year, according to Arizona State University Realty Studies. That's up from 1,145 sales in the fourth quarter of 2007 and only 625 in the third quarter.

Measured month-to-month, the numbers are equally positive. The area had 465 recorded sales in January, 600 in February and 620 in March.

This activity is close to the record 1,785 sales in second-quarter 2005.

The Queen Creek area accounted for 39 percent of the resale activity, followed by 18 percent in the Maricopa area and 15 percent in the Apache Junction area.

Even with an increase in home sales, the median price of Pinal County homes is dropping. The median price of a resale home has eroded from $220,000 in fourth quarter 2005 to $193,000 in third-quarter 2007 and $156,160 for the current quarter. It was $204,600 a a year ago.