Home sales in the San Francisco Bay area slowed in September from August and the median price edged down as the region's housing market cooled, according to a report released on Tuesday.

The San Francisco Bay region's housing market has ranked as the strongest in the United States in recent years, and many analysts have predicted sales activity would slow and prices would stagnate or slip with mortgage rates rising.

September's homes sales for the region point to a slowdown from last year's record pace, with this year poised to be the second best in terms homes sold, according to the report by DataQuick Information Systems.

"The Bay area real estate market seems to have settled into a steady state, with few indicators pointing to any upcoming change. Supply and demand seem stable. We are keeping an eye on rising mortgage interest rates, which could slow things down somewhat before the end of the year," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

A total of 11,205 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county San Francisco Bay area in September, down 7.2 percent from a year earlier and 7.8 percent from August, according DataQuick.

The median price paid for a home in the area was $616,000 last month, up 19.4 percent from a year earlier and down 0.5 percent from August in a normal seasonal pattern, according to the La Jolla, California-based real estate information service.

Marin County, north of San Francisco, posted the highest median price for homes sold in September in the San Francisco Bay region and all California. The county's September median home price rose 16.7 percent from a year earlier to $802,000.

DataQuick reported on Monday that home prices and sales in Southern California in September posted solid gains from a year earlier but eased from August.

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