As the summer buying season gets under way in Placer County, the region saw modest sales gains for the month of May.

A total of 359 homes were sold according to statistics recently released by the Placer County As-sociation of Realtors. The sales number was an increase of 2.3 percent from April, where 351 escrows were closed. However, the number of 359 homes sold was 21 short of the 380 that were bought in May of last year.

The association also reported an increase in new escrows from 348 in April to 364 in May, an up-tick of 4.6 percent.

The median price — the point at which half the homes sell for more and half for less — for the month rose slightly, going from $344,000 in April to $345,000 in May. The average sales price for the county dropped to $415,427 from $430,517 in April. The county saw an increase in inventory from 2,508 in April to 2,533 in May. There were 2,720 home listed in May of ’07.

In the Auburn/Newcastle area, 26 homes were sold in May, down from 42 sold at the same time last year. Twenty-five homes were sold in April of this year. The average sales price of home in the Auburn/Newcastle region according to the Placer County Association of Realtors rose to $484,073 in May from $476,158 in April. The average sales price in May of 2007 was $551,322.

The median for the Auburn/Newcastle area for May was $328,750 compared to $375,000 for April. The median for May 2007 was $417,000.