SAN DIEGO - The median price of a single-family home in San Diego County last month was $418,500, an 18 percent increase over December 2011, the San Diego Association of Realtors announced Friday.

The December 2012 cost was also 3 percent above what it had been in November, according to SDAR statistics.

The organization reported that condominiums and townhomes had a median price of $253,000 last month, a 23 percent hike from December 2011.

Linda Lee, the president of the SDAR Board of Directors, said the figures are encouraging.

"The momentum carried into December, giving us a strong finish to 2012," Lee said. "I firmly believe San Diego's real estate market will continue to rebound in 2013."

The December 2011 median price for a single-family home in December 2011 was $355,000. For multi-family housing, it was $205,000.

The number of sales of houses climbed 10 percent in December to 2,004 compared with the same month one year earlier. Condo and townhome purchases were up 5 percent to 897.