DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) – The North Texas housing market had a strong showing in April, according to the latest data from the Real Estate Center and the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems.

Some 8,288 existing single-family houses were sold last month — a 30 percent increase over April 2012.

Meanwhile, median prices hit a record high of $176,000.

Center Research Economist Dr. Jim Gaines told theDallas Morning News that this was a “much bigger increase” than he was expecting.

“If someone asked me a few months ago if we would see those numbers, I would have said that it wasn’t likely,” he said. “May, June and July are generally our peak months. It’s going to be very interesting to see how this turns out.”

To hear more from Gaines on the North Texas, state and national housing markets, listen to this week’s Real Estate Red Zone podcast.