That’s the latest from an Associated Press report, which cites data from the National Association of Realtors, indicating that home sales nationwide jumped 7.2 percent in July 2009.

It’s the fourth straight month-over-month increase for the beleaguered housing market.

Prices have dropped remarkably across the board, creating amazing opportunities for homebuyers to purchase properties that may have been out of their reach just a few years ago. In addition, the clock is ticking to take advantage of the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit. It expires on Dec. 1, 2009.

These factors and many others, including low mortgage interest rates, have created a sense of urgency among buyers and investors.

In an interesting twist, sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties are now down, accounting for about one-third of all real estate transactions last month — down from nearly half earlier this year. Those sales, however, “helped drag down the median sales price by 15 percent to $178,400.”

It also means that there are more foreclosure deals from which to choose