Wisconsin existing-home sales were down 22 percent through March compared to the same period last year, while median sale prices fell 9.5 percent to $137,500, according to a report issued Tuesday by the Wisconsin Realtors Association.

In Dane County, home sales dropped 15.2 percent compared to the first quarter of 2008, from 3,638 to 3,084 through March of this year. The median sales price was $204,200, down 4.4 percent from the $213,600 posted a year ago.

Nationally, sales declined 6.8 percent, mostly due to healthy growth in the western part of the U.S. caused by sales of deeply discounted foreclosed homes, the report said.

In addition, the national recession caused a marked increase in unemployment in Wisconsin during the first three months of the year, helping to depress home sales, the WRA said.

"The housing market doesn’t operate in a vacuum," said Michael Mulleady, chairman of WRA’s board. "The national economic environment drives Wisconsin’s economy and that in turn drives our housing market."

Wisconsin’s unemployment rate jumped from 5.9 percent in December 2008 to 8.5 percent in March 2009.

Wisconsin had 7,393 sales of homes and condominiums in the first quarter, compared to 9,342 a year ago. The 9.5 percent drop in median sale price through the first quarter of this year was due to some price discounting by sellers but also was because cheaper homes sold better than more expensive homes, WRA president William Malkasian said.

This year’s federal tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time home buyers helped increase sales in the starter-home market, Malkasian said.