Home Sales Skyrocket in Southern California

Home sales in southern California rose 65 percent in September compared to the same month a year ago.
REALTOR®Magazine
A total of 20,497 new and existing houses and condominiums sold last month in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino, and Orange counties. It was the largest increase MDA DataQuick has recorded in the 20 years it has been keeping records, the company said Monday.

The increase was fueled by foreclosures, which drove down prices, MDA DataQuick said, pushing the median price down 33 percent from a year earlier to $308,500.

Sales so far this month appear to have been slowed by bad financial news, says Andrew LePage, an analyst with MDA DataQuick.