Existing home sales sizzled in the third quarter of this year despite double-digit price gains in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, a report released Tuesday by the Florida Association of Realtors shows.

Though the Realtors' report clearly reflects a booming housing market in the summer and early fall, comparisons with last year must be tempered with the fact that four hurricanes hit Florida in the third quarter of 2004, said Jeff Zipper, the association's communications vice president. Real estate sales came to a near halt in the storms' aftermath.

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In Palm Beach County, the median price of an existing home rose to $399,900, up 24 percent over third quarter 2004's median price of $321,700, the report said. The median is the point at which half the homes sold cost less and half cost more.

Sales rose a modest 5 percent, with Palm Beach County buyers closing on 3,802 homes in July, August and September, compared with 3,636 sales in the same period a year ago.

The interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.76 percent for the three-month period, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac. That's down from 5.89 percent in the third quarter of 2004, but rates have been rising in 2005.

"Mortgage rates, while they have gone up over the past year, have only climbed about half a percent," said Jim Sahnger of Palm Beach Financial Network in Sewall's Point. "While they're at their highest level in two years, the after-tax impact is less than $20 a week for most buyers in Palm Beach County, and $13 a week for most buyers in the Treasure Coast."

In Martin and St. Lucie counties, the median price of an existing home rose rose 34 percent, to $267,500 from $200,200 in the third quarter of 2004, the report said. Treasure Coast buyers closed on 2,016 homes, up 31 percent over last year, when 1,540 home sales closed.

Statewide, the median price of an existing home rose 31 percent in the third quarter to $248,600, up from $189,900 in the same period last year, the report said. Buyers throughout Florida completed purchases of 64,978 existing homes, up 7 percent over last year, when 60,462 sales closed.

Among the state's larger markets, Jacksonville scored a big boost in third-quarter home sales, thanks to the Super Bowl played there in January. Home sales rose 15 percent and the median price rose 18 percent, to $193,800 from $164,500 in 2004, the report said.

"The Super Bowl threw some light on the Jacksonville area, making more people aware of what the First Coast has to offer," said Linda Sherrer, president of the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors.

Nationwide, 69 housing markets — nearly half of the 147 surveyed — posted double-digit price increases in the third quarter, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.

Two Florida metropolitan areas, Orlando and Fort Myers, were among the top three hottest markets in the nation. Phoenix was No. 1, with a median price of $268,800, a phenomenal 52 percent increase over a year ago. Orlando was No. 2, with a 45 percent increase, to a median price of $261,300. Fort Myers was a close third, with 43 percent appreciation, to a median of $277,600.

Nationwide, existing home prices rose 15 percent in the July-through-September period, to a median of $215,900 from $188,200 a year ago.