TAMPA - Florida buyers continued to snatch up heavily discounted homes in the third quarter, marking the fifth consecutive quarter that sales increased.

Sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums rose 33 percent in the third quarter of 2009 compared with the year-ago figure, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. The median sales price fell 22 percent to $145,400.

Home sales in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area increased 20 percent. There were 7,795 sales in the third quarter, up from 6,502 during the same period a year ago.

But the improvement came at the expense of the median sales price, which fell 17 percent to $140,400.

Statewide, condo sales picked up 56 percent compared with the same time the previous year. Prices fell statewide to a median sales price of $106,100. Tampa-area condo sales rose 47 percent, compared to the third quarter last year. The median sales price fell 27 percent to $103,900.

Nationally, home sales continued their climb, with quarterly sales outpacing the second quarter and the previous year's figures, the National Association of Realtors said.

Home prices, meanwhile, fell in eight out of every 10 U.S. cities in the third quarter.

The median sales prices of existing homes declined in 123 out of 153 metropolitan areas compared with the same period a year ago. Prices rose in the other 30 cities.

The national median price clocked in at $177,900, or 11 percent below the third quarter last year.

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