Sacramento-area home buyers closed escrow on 3,420 new and existing houses in May, a 14th straight month of sales climbing higher than the same month a year earlier.

May, which typically kicks off the summer buying season, also saw median sales prices rise again in five area counties, according to statistics released today La Jolla property researcher MDA DataQuick.

But it may be early to celebrate such tentative signals of improvement, as thousands of Sacramento-area borrowers still struggle with home loans. New notices of defaults across the region reached 3,633 in May and outnumbered home sales in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties, according to Bay Area-based tracker ForeclosureRadar. Not all, however, are expected to become foreclosures.

Sacramento County showed one of the biggest improvements regionally, with prices for existing homes alone climbing a dramatically higher 9.4 percent - from $160,000 in March and April to $175,000 in May.

But that was still 22 percent below the May 2008 median of $225,000.

DataQuick analyst Andrew LePage attributed the abrupt May rise to a sales mix reflecting fewer hugely discounted bank repos and more higher-priced homes.

"It's not home appreciation," he said. "It's just getting back to a more normal distribution of sales across the home price spectrum."

Still, he said, "It could be that we've seen the lowest median in Sacramento County."

Here's why:

• Overall, the market share of bank repos fell to 59 percent in May in Sacramento County. That's down from a high of 71 percent in January and follows several rounds of foreclosure moratoriums.

• Homes priced below $100,000 in Sacramento County fell to their lowest level since Nov. 2008.

• Sales priced between $200,000 and $500,000 rose 13 percent from April to May in the capital county.

Prices for new and existing homes combined also rose from April to May in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada and Yolo counties. Prices were unchanged in Placer County and fell slightly in Sutter and Yuba counties, DataQuick reported.

These generally rising median sales prices - where half cost more and half less - reflected an upward statewide trend in May. DataQuick statistics showed a 12.3 percent rise from April in the nine-county Bay Area. The six-county Los Angeles region, including San Diego, saw the regional median rise slightly for the first time since July 2007.

DataQuick May sales highlights for new and existing homes combined in the region:

• Amador County reported a $209,500 median in May, price, up from $180,000 in April and down 29.5 percent from May 2008.

• (El Dorado County's median was $325,000, up from $313,000 in April and down 15.4 percent from the same time last year.

• Nevada County's median reached $352,000, up from $322,500 in April. The May median was just 0.6 percent lower than the same month last year.

• Placer County reported a $295,000 median price, unchanged from April, and 13 percent below the same time last year.

• Sutter County's $165,000 median was down from $170,000 in April and 15.4 percent below the same time last year.

• The Yolo County median of $276,000 climbed from $242,000 in April. It was down 12 percent from May 2008.

• Yuba County's $152,000 median was down slightly from $156,500 in April and is still down 26.4 percent from the same month in 2008.

Call The Bee's Jim Wasserman, (916) 321-1102. Read his blog on real estate, Home Front, at www.sacbee.com/blogs.