Photos by The Roanoke Times | File January

Brandon Morrison sweeps out one of the homes being built by Strauss Construction at the Hampshire development in Southwest Roanoke County.

Larry Harris works on a home in the Hampshire development. There were 352 homes sold in the Roanoke Valley last month, up 9 percent from September 2008, according to the Roanoke Valley Association of Realtors.

September home sales increased across the Roanoke Valley compared with 2008. But at the same time, foreclosure filings skyrocketed.

In September, 352 homes sold, up about 9 percent from 323 in September of last year, according to data reported by the Roanoke Valley Association of Realtors. There were 384 houses placed under contract during the month.

The association tracks sales activity in Roanoke, Salem and Vinton, Roanoke, Botetourt and Craig counties and parts of Franklin and Bedford counties.

Several factors drove the September surge in area home sales, including a rush by first-time homebuyers, said Todd Wampler, president of the association and a broker at Wampler Realty in Daleville. People who buy their first house can receive an $8,000 tax credit from the federal government if they close on the purchase by Dec. 1. This deadline is boosting sales of homes across the country. The credit also is available to people who have not owned a home for at least three years.

Also, more buyers are landing deals on properties because of depreciating values, including lender-owned houses that were lost to foreclosure, Wampler said. This is boosting sales and forcing down the median home price in the Roanoke Valley, he said.

The median home price was $160,000 last month, down from $166,250 in August, according to the association. The average price of a home in the Roanoke Valley was $194,327, slightly less than $195,789 in 2008.

Still, there is evidence that many people cannot pay for their homes. Foreclosure filings in this region continue to rise.

There were 138 foreclosure filings in the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area last month, up from 10 in September 2008, according to RealtyTrac, a company based in California that tracks foreclosures.

For the Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Radford MSA, there were 23 foreclosure filings, compared with seven in September 2008.

Foreclosure filings also were up in the region for the third quarter of this year. In the Roanoke MSA, there were 362 filings, up from 28 last year. There were 54 filings, up from 10 during the third quarter of 2008, for the Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Radford MSA.

RealtyTrac reports the beginning of the foreclosure process by tracking auctions and bank repossessions.