Home prices plunge again

March was another terrible month, with L.A. County home sales falling 49 percent from a year earlier and the median price dropping 18 percent, to $440,000 (numbers courtesy of Dataquick). The typically large boost in activity between February and March was less than half its normal level. But keep in mind, as always, that the results vary widely throughout Socal. What sales there were tended to come from foreclosures in lower-priced inland regions - specifically, 38 percent of the homes that resold last month had been foreclosed on at some point in the prior year. A year ago it was 8 percent. That alone will bring down prices. Here's another interesting stat: Sales financed with larger "jumbo" loans, presumably the higher-priced homes you’ll find in many established sections of L.A., accounted for just 15 percent of Socal sales last month, down from about 40 percent a year ago. "We continue to believe a lot of people who could be buying or selling right now are opting to sit tight until they sense we've hit bottom," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president. "Although prices have fallen off their peaks in most places, the magnitude of the decline continues to vary widely."

MARCH SALES (% change from March '07)
Los Angeles 4,263 -49.0%
Orange 1,663 -46.9%
Riverside 2,691 -26.9%
San Bernardino 1,534 -38.0%
San Diego 2,108 -34.5%
Ventura 549 -45.0%

MARCH PRICES (% change from March '07)
Los Angeles $440,000 -18.5%
Orange $506,000 -19.6%
Riverside $306,250 -27.1%
San Bernardino $265,000 -28.2%
San Diego -34.5% $395,000
Ventura $430,000 -24.1%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems