California home sales drop 28% in August

Median prices fall in most cities compared to last year
EXCEPT notice LA County, Westside of LA and West Hollywood!
Inman News
Resale single-family median home prices fell in 11 of 20 regions in California while sales dropped 27.8 percent in August compared to the same month last year, the California Association of Realtors trade group reported this week.

Median single-family existing-home prices increased 2 percent statewide in August compared to August 2006, despite falling in most regions. Meanwhile, the statewide median price in the entry-level price range of less than $500,000 dropped 5.1 percent in August to $349,360 compared to $368,210 in August 2006.

And the median price per square foot for a single-family home fell 4.3 percent this year to $336 compared with last year's record high of $351 per square foot, the association reported.

August median home prices for all types of homes in the state, including new and existing single-family homes and condos, dropped in about 74 percent of the 326 cities and city areas tracked compared to August 2006, according to statistics provided by DataQuick Information Systems, a real estate data company.

DataQuick also reported that median prices fell in 24 of 31 California counties that it tracked in August compared to August 2006 - the state has 58 counties.

Median home prices fell 18.9 percent in Merced County in August compared to August 2006 - the highest price drop among counties tracked by DataQuick - while dropping 15.8 percent in San Joaquin County, 14 percent in Sacramento County, 13.9 percent in Stanislaus County and 12 percent in Nevada County.

The highest year-over-year median price increase in August was in Marin County, at 12.4 percent, followed by San Francisco County, at 5.9 percent; San Mateo County, at 5.8 percent; Santa Clara County, at 5.2 percent; and Los Angeles County, at 4.8 percent.

Nipomo, in San Luis Obispo County, topped the list of cities and city areas with a 37.6 percent year-over-year median price decline in August, followed by Twentynine Palms with a 33.9 percent drop; North Highlands with a 33.7 percent drop; Patterson with a 32.9 percent drop; and Fallbrook with a 32.3 percent drop.

The Westside area of Los Angeles experienced a 42.5 percent rise in median price from August 2006 to August 2007 - the highest among all cities and city areas in the state - followed by West Hollywood, 35.8 percent; Los Gatos, 35.7 percent; Encinitas, 27.7 percent; and Los Altos, 26.2 percent.

Single-family existing-home sales fell in all 20 regions of the state year-over-year in August, the association reported, dropping most in the High Desert region. That region had a sales drop of 56.2 percent, and sales fell 47.3 percent in the Riverside/San Bernardino region, 37.1 percent in the Monterey County area, and 33.8 percent in the Central Valley region.

Statewide, the 10 cities and communities with the highest median home prices in California in August were: Los Altos, $1.82 million; Manhattan Beach, $1.7 million; Saratoga, $1.6 million; Newport Beach, $1.6 million; Burlingame and Palos Verdes Estates, $1.5 million; and Calabasas, La Canada/Flintridge, Coronado, and Los Gatos, at $1.3 million.