The median home price in Southern California dropped nearly 35 percent in December from a year ago, but home sales rose steadily as buyers snapped up low-cost foreclosures.
MDA DataQuick, a real estate tracking firm, said Monday that the median home price in a six-county region of Southern California was $278,000 last month, compared to $425,000 in December 2007. The median price for the area peaked at $505,000 in mid-2007.
Foreclosures accounted for 55.7 percent of December's sales in Southern California.
The firm also reported new home sales plummeted and were the lowest on record for the month of December since 1988. A total of 1,813 new homes were sold last month. The December average for new home sales has been 4,926.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
