County home sales rise, but prices continue to fall

San Diego County home sales rose to their highest point in more than a year last month, but prices, depressed by growing foreclosures, continued to fall, MDA DataQuick reported Monday.

There were 3,431 sales in July, the highest since May 2007, while overall median prices dropped to $364,000, down 1.6 percent from June and off 25.6 percent from year-ago levels.

The median price of single-family resale houses dropped to $399,000, the first time the price has dropped below the $400,000 mark since June 2003. The latest figure was $6,000 less than in June and $151,000 or 27.5 percent below July 2007's $550,000. The all-time resale single-family peak was $574,000 in May 2006.

The median condo price stood at $257,000 down $2,000 from June and off 31.9 percent from July 2007's $377,250. The median price in the new-housing category, including both new construction and new condo conversions, was $364,000, down from $370,000 in June and $489,000 in July last year.

The local pattern was generally repeated throughout Southern California, where sales were up as prices dipped. San Diego fared better than the five other counties in having the lowest downturn in year-over-year prices, but had the second lowest year-over-year sales improvement.

In a statement, MDA DataQuick President John Walsh labeled the trend a “fire sale of properties in newer affordable neighborhoods.”

He said the level of distress was not spreading to more expensive or established neighborhoods.

However, in North San Diego County coastal ZIP codes, where foreclosures and defaults have been relatively few, the overall median price on a resale home slid the most in July of any of the five subregions – down 31.1 percent from $697,000 in July 2007 to $480,000 last month.

After factoring in resale condos and new construction, the North County coastal area median price was down 19.8 percent, nearly 10 percentage points less than the worst-hit market, South County, down 28.9 percent, where foreclosures have been rampant for more than a year.