The housing market in the Twin Cities was far from frigid last month.

Houses sold lickety split and for record prices. During November there were 4,595 closed sales, 3.8 percent more than in the same month last year. The median price of those closings was $245,000, a 6.5 percent annual increase and a new high in the 13-county market, the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors said Friday.

With just a month to go, 2017 is on pace to be the best in more than a decade for Twin Cities home sellers, a shortage of entry-level houses is stifling sales in the lowest price ranges.

While there was a 6.4 percent decline in the number of buyers for houses priced at less than $249,900, there was a nearly 30 percent increase in the number of buyers who signed purchase agreements for houses priced at more than $1 million. Many of those upper-bracket deals happened in Minneapolis, where buyers snapped up several $1 million-plus condos in the Zenith and Legacy condominium buildings.

“The year is poised to end on a mostly positive note,” said Kath Hammerseng, president-elect of the association. “Aside from inventory constraints and a thorny tax bill, construction activity, seller confidence and interest rates will be key indicators to watch in 2018.”

Because of that dearth of options for entry-level buyers, communities with an abundance of those starter houses posted strong gains in sales and prices. That includes Hopkins, which had the biggest annual gain in the sale price per square foot.

The same was true of suburbs like New Brighton and Cambridge, which led the list of communities with the biggest increase in sales. Both of those towns saw a flurry of sales of new homes, too.