U.S. existing-home sales picked up steam in January but price further declined, fresh evidence of an uneven property market recovery, a leading industry group reported on Wednesday.

Existing-home sales, including completed transactions of single- family houses, apartments and condominiums, rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million units in January from a revised 4.38 million units in December, up 4.3 percent month on month. The level was 0.7 percent above the 4.54 million units in January 2011, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said in a report.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said strong gains in contract activity in recent months show buyers are responding to very favorable market conditions.

"The uptrend in home sales is in line with all of the underlying fundamentals -- pent-up household formation, record-low mortgage interest rates, bargain home prices, sustained job creation and rising rents," he said.

The median existing home price for all housing types nationwide dipped to 154,700 U.S. dollars in January, down 2 percent from a year ago, noted the report.