TAMPA - More existing homes are selling in Florida compared with last year, though at a lower price than in better days.

That generally matches national patterns as economists tally the uneven recovery of the housing market.

In Florida, sales of previously occupied homes rose in 2009 for the first time in four years, despite a December slump triggered by changes to tax breaks for homebuyers.

The number of home sales rose in December to 14,630 statewide, compared with 11,013 in December 2008. Statewide, existing home sales last month increased 4.3 percent compared with November.

The median sale price of a home in Florida during December was $140,400, compared with $155,300 in the same month a year ago, a 10 percent decrease.

In the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area, the number of home sales rose 14 percent in December to 2,123 compared with a year ago. The median price fell 4 percent to $140,000. That's better than the 22-percent drop in Ocala but worse than the 12-percent rise in Tallahassee. Prices fell in most regions.

National sales figures for 2009 provided a bleak picture.

Prices plunged more than 12 percent last year, the sharpest fall since the Great Depression. The price drop for 2009 - to a median of $173,500 - showed the housing market remains too weak to help fuel a sustained economic recovery. Total sales for 2009 were nearly 5.2 million, up about 5 percent from 2008.

Sales are up 21 percent from the bottom a year ago, but they're down 25 percent from the peak more than four years ago.

The poor December showing occurred after Congress extended a tax credit, easing pressure on buyers to act quickly. The credit of up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers was due to expire Nov. 30. Congress extended the deadline and expanded it, adding a a $6,500 credit for existing homeowners who move.

The national report "places a large question mark over whether the recovery can be sustained when the extended tax credit expires," wrote Paul Dales, U.S. economist with Capital Economics.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.