January's median price was a still-hefty $520,000, down 0.9 percent from December and up 6.1 percent from a year earlier. It was the best showing of any Socal county, especially when compared with the price slumps in San Diego and Ventura County. The question is whether L.A. proves to be a lagging market when it comes to price declines. L.A. sales continue to slump, down 6.9 percent from a year earlier. Throughout Socal, just 18,128 homes were sold in January, down 25.1 percent from December and 17.2 percent from a year earlier. January is typically a very slow month. LAT