The housing market continues to slow in Virginia as it does nationwide. And it is not as hot in the Richmond area as it was a few years ago.

Still, the number of sales in the Richmond area is up from a year ago. So are prices, according to a report released yesterday from the National Association of Realtors.

The median price for a previously owned home in the Richmond area rose to $223,200 in the first quarter, up 6.2 percent from the same period a year ago, according to the report. The median is the point at which half the houses sell for more and half for less.  Nationally, the median price fell 1.8 percent to $212,300 from a year ago, the report said.

The Richmond area was among 82 metro areas reporting price increases from a year ago, which included 11 with double-digit gains. Prices declined in 62 areas and remained unchanged in one.

"We have had an adjustment -- there is no question about that -- but not as severely as nationally or regionally," said Bill White, ex-president of the Richmond Association of Realtors.  "The national and regional numbers are skewed by the fact that the second-home market is way down," he said.

"Richmond is not dependent on second homes. We're a primary-home market. But in the coast and resort areas, you will see second-home sales off by 20, 30 and 40 percent."

David Gragnani, a Long & Foster manager in the Innsbrook office, said houses are still selling in the Richmond area. "There's more to choose from, so it's taking longer to sell, but they are selling for not a whole lot less price."

Pat V. Combs, president of the National Association of Realtors, said the worst of the price correction nationwide may have passed.  Nationally, total sales of previously owned houses, including single-family homes and condos, fell 6.6 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, according to the NAR report.

"The existing-home market is stabilizing in a broad cyclical trough and moving in the right direction, with a modest gain from the fourth quarter," said Lawrence Yun, senior economist for the association. "Conditions changed fairly rapidly during the boom, but we need more patience now to see a slow, gradual recovery, which should start in the second half of this year."

The number of Virginia sales dipped 5.7 percent from a year ago, the report said. But the number of sales in the Richmond area rose 5.26 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, the Richmond Association of Realtors says.