The number of homes sold in the greater Denver area in September rose 19% from a year earlier, with 3,715 houses and condos sold in the eight-county metropolitan area, DataQuick said. Still, September home sales in the area fell 11.7% from August, reflecting seasonal trends attributable to the start of the school year. The median sales price for home in the MSA fell slightly in September from August and a year earlier. From Jan. 1 through Sept. 30, the Denver area recorded 31,076 new and resale purchases of homes and condos. The counties studied in the report include Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson and Park counties. The median price paid for condos in the Denver area hit $210,000 in September, down 2.3% from August and down 3.2% from a year earlier. Absentee buyers — investors and second-home owners — made up 25.1% of all September home sales. That is up from 22.5% in August, but down from 28.4% last year. Absentee buyers paid a median price of $144,000 for Denver homes in September. Homebuyers who paid cash made up 26.5% of all September sales, compared to 22.8% in August and 27.9% a year ago. Government-insured loans from the Federal Housing Administration represented 34.1% of all new Denver area home purchases for the same month. Write to Kerri Panchuk.