In all, 22,117 new and resale houses and condos were sold in October in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems.
The figure represents a 22.4 percent decline from October 2005 and a 2.4 percent drop from September sales, the firm said.
The last time fewer homes were sold in the region during October was 1996, when sales totaled 18,505, DataQuick said.
Meanwhile, the pace of home price growth kept slowing in several counties, although the median home price for the entire region hit $484,000, a 2.3 percent increase compared to October 2005.
This is interesting.
The deepest price drop occurred in San Diego County, where home prices have declined for several months. The median price in October was $485,000, down 5.5 percent compared to a year ago.
Only 5.5. percent! That ain’t huge…. although no one knows what the future will bring.