Sales of existing homes in the Indianapolis area were up in April, marking 12 straight months of increased activity, according to statistics released Friday afternoon by F.C. Tucker Co.

Purchase agreements in the nine-county area tracked by the real estate firm hit 2,252, a 3.3-percent increase over April 2011. Through April, existing home-sale contracts were up 12 percent.

In Marion County, sales agreements increased 4.2 percent, from 961 in April 2011 to 1,001 last month. But pending sales dipped slightly in Hamilton County, from 478 to 475.

Johnson County registered an even bigger decrease, 18.2 percent, as pending sales fell from 176 in April 2011 to 144 last month.

Madison and Hancock counties both saw double-digit increases in pending sales, while they increased 3.6 percent in Hendricks County.

Sales activity is ramping up, even as the number of available homes is down. Inventory in the nine-county area fell 11.3 percent compared with last April, to 13,556.

Inventory dropped 16.3 percent in Marion County and 15.4 percent in Johnson County.

The average sale price in the area rose slightly, by 0.9 percent, to $143,553. About 88 percent of the area’s sales agreements in April involved homes priced at $299,000 or less. Agreements were reached on seven homes priced at more than $1 million.