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Home sales continued their unsettling trend downward October both locally and around the state, according to figures released Wednesday by the Florida Association of Realtors.

“I know as an owner/broker I should be looking at those numbers every month when they come out, but it’s gotten to the point that I sometimes feel like I don’t want to hear it,” said Joe Pavich, owner/broker of Estero-based Realty World Florida. “I always try to stay upbeat, and I think we’re near the bottom, but the numbers can be discouraging.”

Upheaval in the mortgage industry and tightening credit were largely to blame for the numbers, according to the FAR. October house closings largely represent deals negotiated in August, when mortgage industry troubles were peaking.

In another development connected to the ailing housing industry, the Bonita Bay Group this week announced its third layoff of the year. Fourteen employees — mostly managers — were let go Tuesday, said Meredith Parsons, a marketing coordinator with the company. To date Bonita Bay has laid of 74 people, leaving the company with a work force of about 1,300. Other developers, including WCI Communities, Centex and First Home Builders, also have made deep staffing cuts to survive a challenging market.

Parsons said the company hopes to avoid additional layoffs, although “it all depends on what the market does.”

Laid off workers will receive severance pay and job-placement assistance, she said.

As for the October housing numbers, sales of single-family homes in October in Lee County were down 36 percent from a year ago, and the median home price was down 4 percent for the same period. The number of single-family home sales tumbled from 630 to 405 over the year, and the median price dropped from $249,800 to $239,300.

Figures for Lee County condos were also bleak, with the median price and the number of sales both down 28 percent. The number of condo sales went from 145 in October 2006 to 105 last month, and the median price dipped from $270,700 to $195,800.

Cape Coral’s October figures were not yet available when the totals were calculated, said Marla Martin, FAR’s communications director. Adjustments were made, however, to the October 2006 present a year-over-year Lee County picture that was as accurate as possible.

“That happens from time to time and when it does we take the same component out of the previous year’s numbers so we’re talking apples to apples,” she said.

But even with the Cape Coral data missing from October’s numbers, Brett Ellis, a partner with The Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty in Fort Myers, saw something encouraging when he compared October not to the prior October, but to September of this year. The number of Realtor-assisted sales of single-family homes was up from 327 to 405 — and the September figures were calculated with Cape Coral numbers included, which means the increase was probably higher.

“I see it as a positive sign that the number of transactions may be going up in this market even though some people will still say it’s down 4 percent from last year,” he said.

Ellis said while overall inventories remain high, he’s seeing signs that developer-owned inventory is shrinking significantly. Developers have been offering deep incentives during the tight market in the form of free upgrades and low pricing for never lived-in homes — stalling sales of existing homes.

Ellis and Pavich said they expect to see more improvement once existing and pending foreclosures are absorbed. Earlier this week Lee Clerk of Courts Charlie Green said there were 1,809 foreclosures in Lee County in October, up from 1,326 in September. It’s an upward trend Ellis believes will continue for the next five to eight months. After that he anticipates a “bouncing along the bottom” of the market.

Pavich said sales prices today resemble what they were in 2002 and 2003, and serious sellers need to remember keep that in mind.

“Nobody cares what you paid for your house and nobody cares what you owe on your house,” he said. “It’s a buyers market and that’s what the price needs to reflect.”

At the market’s peak in December 2005, the median price of a single-family home in Lee County was $322,300.

Figures for Collier County were not available. The Naples Area Association of Realtors provides them to FAR to be included in statewide tallies but does not allow FAR to release them individually.

Statewide, the number of single-family home sales fell 29 percent from 12,846 in October 2006 to last month; and the median price dropped 8 percent, from $242,700 to $222,100. The number of Florida condo sales dropped from 3,508 to 2,819 over the year, a dip of 20 percent. The median price of a condo in Florida dropped 8 percent, from $209,500 to $192,400 during the same period.

Meanwhile, in a separate report, the National Association of Realtors said sales of existing single-family existing homes held steady in October although condo sales were down.

Single-family home sales came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.37 million in October, which is unchanged from September. Sales of single-family homes were down a significant 20.8 percent from the 5.52 million-unit level in October 2006. The median existing single-family home price was $205,700 in October, down 6.3 percent from a year ago.

Condo sales fell 9.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 600,000 units in October, which is down from 660,000 in September. However, year-over-year figures saw condo sales drop 20.2 percent below the 752,000-unit pace in October 2006. The median existing condo price was $223,500 in October, up 4.9 percent from a year ago.

Interest rates in October for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.38 percent, according to Freddie Mac. That’s just slightly higher than October 2006, when the average rate was 6.36 percent.