Hillsborough County sold about 65 more homes in October 2008 than it did in October 2007, more evidence that home sales are flattening after a two year free fall.

The Greater Tampa Association of Realtorsrecorded 1,198 sales last month compared to 1,133 a year earlier.

But that stabilization came at a high cost. The average home sales price in October was $187,344, down 28 percent from the average price of $259,460 in October 2007.

You don't have to search far for a reason. Bank-seized foreclosure houses, which sell for about two-thirds the amount of a conventionally priced home, make up close to a quarter of sales in the Tampa Bay area.

Lending credence to this explanation, GTAR says 322 sales in October - more than a quarter of the monthly total - were "all cash" sales. Investors scooping up cheap homes at auction typically have to pay cash.

Here's a chart: Download gtaroct08.pdf 

The October numbers weren't that hideous. Many predicted the banking crisis would crater the real estate landscape as if it were a 10-kiloton bomb. The sales figures suggest otherwise, though most deals that closed in October were probably arranged in September.