Homes sales rose again in April across the area and the state, continuing a near solid string of monthly increases over the past year.

In the Dayton metro area, sales for the month rose 14.5 percent to 1,085 homes compared to April 2012, according to the Ohio Association of Realtors. The average sale price in April was $124,085, a slight improvement over $123,005 in April last year.

In the Cincinnati metro area, the number of homes sold 23.3 percent in April to 1,908. The average sale price rose 5.7 percent to $157,346, the association said.

In the area that includes Clark and Champaign counties, the number of homes sold rose 23.1 percent to 453 homes. But the average sale price barely nudged up to $101,720, according to association figures.

Statewide, the number of homes sold rose 20.5 percent in April, marking the 22nd straight month of market gains, the Ohio Association of Realtors said.

“The Ohio marketplace, with each passing month, continues to make significant progress in building a solid foundation for a sustained, growing housing sector,” Thomas Williams, the association’s president, said in a statement. “We’ve not only posted 22 straight months of sales gains — our longest stretch of uninterrupted growth in 16 years of tracking Ohio housing activity – but we’re also seeing stability and steady gains in pricing which should help boost confidence that housing is a solid, long-term investment.”

Sales through the first four months of 2013 reached 35,412 homes, a 15.6 percent increase from the 30,636 sales posted in the same period a year ago. The average price for the same period is $128,547, a 5.1 percent increase from the $122,349 mark reached a year ago.

In Ohio, 17 of 20 markets are showing gains, the Ohio association said.

Nationally, sales of previously occupied homes rose to their highest level in 3.5 years, the Associated Press reported.

The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million, up from 4.94 million in March.

Home sales have risen 9.7 percent in the past 12 months, evidence that the housing market is improving, the AP said. But sales have been roughly flat since November, it added.

The median price of a home for sale rose 11 percent last month from April 2012 to $192,800, the wire service said.