Home sales across the state were up 13 percent compared with last year, and the median sale price of those deals was up almost 11 percent. That's according to a monthly sales report from the Minnesota Association of Realtors, which tracks homes sales in 13 economic development regions throughout the state. New listings statewide were up 14 percent, but there were wild variations in sales activity from region to region. In the Northwest region, for example, closings were down 46 percent, while closings in the Arrowhead nearly doubled. Such variations aren't unusual because of the small sample size, but the trends are clear: The recovery is happening unevenly across the state. Click here to see a summary of sales activity those regions.

The report comes on the same day that the National Association of Realtors released its September sales report, which showed that sales across the country were down 1.9 percent - a smaller decline than expected.