MIAMI-Downtown Miami was the heart of the state’s condo craze—and subsequent condo crash. But while real estate prices are still declining in most parts of South Florida, condo prices in the urban core are on the rise again.

Indeed, buyers paid about 14% more for new units in greater downtown Miami in the first quarter of 2011, compared to the year-ago period. So says a new report from Condo Vultures. Prices for new developer units rose to $348 per sf in 2011. But higher prices are curbing the recovery. The average number of sales dropped by 54 percent to 111 transactions a month in the first quarter. That compares to 239 sales in the first quarter of 2010, according to the report based on an analysis of Miami-Dade County records.

“You are definitely seeing the pricing going up, but at the same time the velocity is slowing,” Peter Zalewski, principal at Condo Vultures, tells GlobeSt.com. “This shows that if the pricing is right, the building moves. If the pricing is not right, the building languishes. The only exception being Epic. Pricing went up and velocity went up.”