Metro Detroit home sales declined for the second time this year, according to a report released Monday, because of an apparent lack of move-in-ready houses. . 

September sales in the four-county region fell 1.3 percent, marking only the second time in the past 15 months that sales declined, according to Realcomp II Ltd., a Farmington Hills multiple listing service. Sales also decreased 2.2 percent in April.

Home sales in Livingston, Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties increased a brisk 11 percent in both July and August.

On-market inventory declined 15.6 percent from 30,842 in September 2011 to 26,023 last month. Inventory in Metro Detroit has been near record lows since Realcomp started tracking the data seven years ago. In August, Wayne and Oakland counties both had their second-lowest number of homes on the market since at least 2005.

Because of the shortage of move-in-ready homes, sale prices continued to increase.

The median sales price rose 17 percent in Metro Detroit to $87,859 in September, and homes sold 14 days faster than they did in September 2011, Realcomp said.

Oakland County experienced the largest increase in price with a 28.7 percent jump. The Detroit area, which includes hard-hit urban areas like Hamtramck, Harper Woods and Highland Park, saw a 6 percent increase in prices.