Miami-area home sales in September rose 2.8% month-to-month to the highest level reached in four years; however, home prices continue to falter. The governing factor of both these occurrences was condo resales, which increased 0.5% from August and 19.9% from September 2009, according to the MDA DataQuick monthly report. The total amount of condo resales was 3,678 in September. MDA DataQuick reported that condo resales in the Miami metropolitan statistical area accounted for half (49.5%) of all sales made during the month. Local real estate consultancy firm CondoVultures reported there were only 19 new condo sales in South Beach during September. In the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach district, 45.3% of homes sales were resale, while only 5.2% were new home sales. Home resales are down 5.7% from 2009. New home sales are down 3.7% from August and 34.9% from on year ago. Home sales fell despite market price deflation. The median price for a resale home in September was $175,000, down 2.8% from August and 7.9% from 2009. The median price for a resale condo also dropped 12.1% to $87,000 compared to one year ago when the price was $99,000. Prices rose for new homes, up 12.2% to $303,000; however, the median price for home prices overall dropped 17% to $132,000 due to the number of condo resales that occurred, the data firm concluded. The Miami-area trend is representative of the market state-wide. Recently, Florida Realtors trade group reported existing home sales down 8% and existing condo sales up 10% across the Sunshine State. Write to Christine Ricciardi.