Sales of single-family homes in Lee County soared in February as buyers were spurred into action by a sharp drop in prices.

The median price of a home sold with the assistance of a Realtor was $211,900, off 9 percent from January's $234,000. Sales were up 32 percent from 338 to 445, according to a report Monday by the Florida Association of Realtors.

Prices have been falling steadily for about two years in Lee County, although last month's sales were exactly the same as a year ago.

Lee sales of single-family homes in February held steady at 445 while the median price plunged 17 percent from $254,200 a year earlier.

Meanwhile, in a separate report Monday, the National Association of Realtors issued a report saying that after falling for six straight months, sales of existing homes posted an unexpected increase in February that may have reflected more aggressive price-cutting by sellers in Florida and California.

The most dramatic evidence of that locally was at the Coral Lakes subdivision in Cape Coral, where Fort Myers-based businessman O.J. Buigas last week purchased 116 completed but never-lived-in residences in the project for $13.5 million from Engle Homes.

Engle's parent company, Tousa Inc., is seeking to reorganize under federal bankruptcy protection.

Buigas immediately reduced the prices at Coral Lakes by about 40 percent.

"We're only at 29 homes available out of 116," said Fort Myers-based real estate broker Denny Grimes of Denny Grimes & Co., who's handling the sales. "There were some investors but I'd say it's at 75 percent end users or people who want to rent out for awhile before living there. People didn't come in and buy a baker's dozen."

The people buying are putting down non-refundable 5 percent deposits and often already have financing when they sign, he said.

One of the buyers was Mary Grace Munoz, 57, of Cape Coral, who with her husband Walter bought two single-family homes for $133,000 each.

"These were super, super values and possibly one day in the future I'll want to move to a smaller house, maybe downsizing when we're in our 70s," said Munoz, who said she was especially impressed with the community's amenities such as a clubhouse, pool, basketball courts and softball field.

Her son and daughter each bought a house, she added.

Real estate agent Brett Ellis of RE/MAX Realty Group in Fort Myers attributed the pickup in sales to the rising number of foreclosures. A total of 1,674 foreclosure actions were filed in circuit court in February, down from a record 1,833 in January but up sharply from 624 in February 2007.

"There are more foreclosures in the lower range because that's where foreclosures are concentrated, and that's what skews the price down," he said.

Buyers are snapping up the foreclosure sales, which generally are priced to move, he said.

The Coral Lakes sales show that lower prices stimulate purchases, Ellis said, but they'll also likely cause some who bought there for the old, higher prices to walk away from their mortgages and go into foreclosure.

One banker said, however, that the trend toward foreclosures may abate as lenders work with clients to keep them in their homes.

Richard Purdy, senior vice president of asset preservation at Coral Gables-based BankUnited Financial Corp., said, "Where there are more people working with banks on their current situations, if that puts fewer homes in foreclosure, that should be having a stabilizing impact on the market itself."

BankUnited is working with people to help them keep their houses, he said. "If it's someone who's lost his job and just needs a little breathing room, we can accept something other than the note payments for a fixed period of time."

Statistics aren't available for Collier County, but in Charlotte County the median price fell 25 percent from $201,100 in February 2007 to $151,300 while the number of sales fell 7 percent from 216 to 201.

Statewide, the median price fell 16 percent to $198,900 from $237,000 while the number of sales fell 25 percent from 11,132 to 8,310 from a year earlier.

The National Association of Realtors said that nationwide sales of existing homes rose by 2.9 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.03 million units. It was the biggest increase in a year and caught economists by surprise. They had been expecting a small decline.

The trade group reported that the median existing sales price in February fell to $195,900. That was the largest year-over-year drop in records that go back to 1999.

- The Associated Press also contributed to this report.