As housing inventories shrink across Southwest Florida, prices are surging — in some cases by as much as 31 percent over last year — according to local housing reports released Thursday.

The Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte-North Port Association of Realtors reported Thursday that the median sale price of a single-family home in the Charlotte County-North Port area last month was 23.5 percent higher than the median price in November 2011. Similarly, the median sale price for a condo-townhouse jumped by 31.7 percent, compared with a year ago.