Home-sale agreements in the Indianapolis area rose nearly 12 percent in October compared with the same month last year, marking the sixth straight month of year-over-year increases.

In the nine-county metropolitan area, sales agreements climbed to 1,541 last month, an increase of 163 from the same time last year, according to a report released Thursday by F.C. Tucker Co., the city's largest residential real estate firm.

Year-to-date sales agreements are down 1.2 percent from the same period in 2010.

Jim Litten, president of F.C. Tucker, attributed the improvement in the housing market in part to historically low mortgage rates.

“An increase in sales prices and tightening inventory are both signs of a stabilizing housing market,” he said in a prepared statement.

Year-to-date average sale prices are up 1.4 percent in 2011, from $150,333 to $152,371.

Available homes for sale in the nine-county region dropped 12.5 percent in October, with 13,972 homes on the market, 2,019 fewer than in October 2010.

Marion County saw a 13.3-percent increase in October sales agreements from a year earlier, from 617 to 699.

The number of sales agreements in the residential hotbed of Hamilton County, though, dropped 8.1 percent, from 297 to 273.

Hendricks County saw a 33.6-percent increase in sale agreements, from 107 to 143.