MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Statewide home sales rose nearly 11 percent in January, a typically slow period for the housing resale industry.

The Wisconsin Realtors Association says the year-to-year increase last month was boosted by a nearly 23 percent increase in activity in northeastern Wisconsin. While sales rose, the median price of a home in Wisconsin fell from about $128,000 to $119,000. Generally, prices are still lower than they were before the recession.

Marquette University economics professor David Clark consults for the Realtors Association. Clark tells the La Crosse Tribune that any significant improvement in the housing industry will depend on the state's ability to add jobs.