Wasatch Front home prices continued to soar in this year's third quarter, but fewer sales could indicate Salt Lake's market is cooling.

According to data released Friday by the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, the median price of homes sold through a real estate agent in Salt Lake County in the third quarter climbed to $240,000, up 26.4 percent from the same quarter of 2005.

No areas along the Wasatch Front in the third quarter posted price declines. In fact, most areas continued to see double-digit price increases.

In Salt Lake County, there were 3,978 single-family homes sold, down 10.5 percent from the third quarter of 2005. Home sales in Davis County also declined, falling 8.9 percent to 1,232 units. Utah County showed an increase of 2.8 percent, while Weber County saw a 12.2 percent increase.

Sharon Spratley, board president, downplayed the slower sales.

"We're still in a very strong market," Spratley said. "We've seen strong appreciation."

Jim Bringhurst, broker with the Bringhurst Group, a Salt Lake-based real estate company, said he is still receiving many out-of-state calls from people wanting to purchase in Utah.

"We're getting a lot of negative press nationally," Bringhurst said. "They're painting with a wide brush saying that the real estate market is slowing. I'm still seeing that things are positive. Our market is still strong."

But Bringhurst acknowledges that there are more homes on the market and said it may take longer to sell them because of a seasonal slowdown.

"There are fewer buyers in the market," Bringhurst said. "People are busy focusing on the holidays, but there's plenty of inventory of good homes to look at, and I think we'll have another good spring."

The average time on market during the third quarter for a listed home in Salt Lake County was 27 days, down from 42 days in the third quarter of 2005. Utah County saw its listings average 46 days on the market, down from 71 days a year earlier.

Jason Eldredge, executive vice president of Newreach-Builders Decision, a Salt Lake-based real estate research company, said fewer home sales — existing and new — are not surprising given that 2005 was a record year.

"I think people have a really short memory," Eldredge said. "Even though they're down, the pace is still steady, and the prices have increased dramatically from last year."

Eldredge added that some buyers are asking for incentives based on news of the national real estate slow down.

"Some builders have had a couple people come in with a national article saying, 'What are you going to give me?' The builders are saying, 'Nothing,'" Eldredge said. "We're insulated from that."