TAMPA - Tampa area house hunters - led mostly by first-time homebuyers continued to purchase in September, edging up home sales as the median sales price continued to drop.

Nationally, it was the largest jump in resales in more than a quarter century.

There were 2,410 existing homes sold in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area, up 11 percent from 2,174 during the same month a year ago, according to data released Friday by the Florida Association of Realtors.

Prices, though, fell 14 percent from the same month last year. The median sales price dropped from $160,500 last year to $137,800.

Sales prices have been a moving target this year, consistently dropping each month when compared with the previous year, but prices have fluctuated month to month. September's price was below August's $144,600 median. Prices haven't been lower since April, when the median hit $135,200.

Statewide, September sales rose 34 percent and prices fell 19 percent to a median sales price of $142,000.

"There's a miniboom going on in the housing market," said Thomas Popik, who conducts a monthly survey of real estate agents for Campbell Communications, a research firm.

Nationwide resales are up nearly 24 percent from their bottom in January, but are still down 23 percent from four years ago, according to the National Association of Realtors. September's sales clocked the largest monthly increase in 26 years.

Sales of existing homes jumped 9.4 percent nationwide in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million last month, from a downwardly revised pace of 5.1 million in August.

The median price last month was $174,900, down almost 9 percent from $191,200 a year earlier, and slightly lower than August's median of $177,300.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804.