Miami area December home sales rose to a four-year high due to robust condo sales, according to DataQuick, but the overall median sales price fell nearly 13% from a year earlier. In December, 8,608 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the metro area encompassing Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward counties, San Diego-based research and analytics firm DataQuick said. That’s up 28.7% from the prior month and up 4.2% from a year earlier. December’s 28.7% sales gain from November was higher than the normal, seasonal increase. On average, December sales have risen 23.3% from November since 1997, when DataQuick began tracking Miami housing data. December’s total sales were the highest for that month since 2006, when 11,643 homes sold. The 4,332 condos that resold in December were up 31% over November and up 20% from a year earlier. Condo resales made up a record 50.3% of total Miami-area home sales in December, compared with 43.7% a year earlier. New-home sales have suffered as builders struggle with the weak economy and competition from foreclosure sales. December’s 599 new-home sales, were up 46.8% from November but down 16% from a year earlier. They made up just 7% of all transactions in December. The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Miami metro area in December was $135,000, down 3.6% from $140,000 in November and down 12.9% from $155,000 in December 2009. The median paid for resale single-family detached houses fell to $175,000 in December — down nearly 7% from a year earlier and 48.5% below its June 2007 peak of $340,000. Write to Kerry Curry. Follow her on Twitter @communicatorKLC.