A total of 229 single-family homes closed escrow during April in the Santa Clarita Valley, the Southland Regional Association of Realtors reported Sunday.

That figure was up 9.0 percent over a year ago and 9.6 percent ahead of this March. It was the highest monthly tally since December 2013 and the highest for the month of April since 2006.

Realtors also closed escrow on 92 condominium transactions during April, up 4.5 percent over a year ago and 33.3 percent ahead of this March.

The condo sales total was the highest so far this year and the best since 104 condos sold in October.

“The local market is quite active and tracking along with what is happening throughout much of Southern California,” said Bob Khalsa, president of the Santa Clarita Division of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors. “We’re seeing strong buyer interest along with improving inventory, which releases upward pressure on prices and results in more moderate price increases.”

The active inventory showed a total of 613 listings at the end of April throughout the Santa Clarita Valley. That was up 5.1 percent over a year ago.

However, at the current pace of sales the inventory represents a 1.9-month supply, down from a 2.0-month supply of April 2014 and well short of the desired 6-month supply that would bring the market into balance.

“There’s no lack of buyer interest in Santa Clarita, which is viewed as a highly desirable community,” said Jim Link, the Association’s chief executive officer. “Sales would be even higher except for the thin inventory. More sales would limit price increases keeping homes with reach of more buyers, especially now while home loan interest rates remain so low.”

The single-family home median price of $500,000 was up 3.1 percent over a year ago, yet off 3.8 percent from March when the median came in at $520,000, which was the highest since December 2007, the Association reported.

The April median was 22.2 percent below the record high of $643,000 set in April 2006.

After four consecutive months of being above the $300,000 benchmark, the median price of condominiums sold during April came in at $290,000. That was up 9.2 percent over a year ago, yet down 4.9 percent from the March median of $305,000.

The condominium median price peaked during this recovery from the recession in January at $315,000 and has been bouncing around under that number since.

The April condominium median price was 27.0 below the record high condo median of $397,000, which was set in January 2006.

Distressed sales have little impact on the current market. Of the total of 321 homes and condos sold by Realtors during April, only 21 were distressed sales. There were nine foreclosure-related transactions or 2.8 percent of the total, and 12 short sales or 3.7 percent of the total.

That meant the vast majority of sales were traditional, standard sales, which accounted for 92.8 percent of the April total.

Pending escrows—a measure of future sales activity—were up 1.1 percent with 3777 open escrows reported at the end of April.

The Southland Regional Association of Realtors is a local trade association with more than 9,100 members serving the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys. SRAR is one of the largest local associations in the nation.