L.A. prices under 300K

February's median price in L.A. County was $299,000, a 35 percent drop from a year earlier. Sales jumped 32.4 percent, with much of the action coming from foreclosed properties in more affordable areas. (Riverside and San Bernardino are still seeing huge increases.) The latest Dataquick report does show some price stability from January. "The market is so tilted away from normal mainstream activity that it’s impossible to generalize or predict based on the atypical patterns we’re seeing," John Walsh, DataQuick's president, said in a press release.

In today’s market, the drop in the median overstates the decline in home values. The more affordable inland markets with most of the discounted foreclosures account for a large share of today’s sales, while homes in the upper half of the market are not selling well, and are under-represented in the statistics. When jumbo loans of more than $417,000 were readily available in early 2007, they accounted for just under 40 percent of all home purchases. Last month they accounted for just 10.3 percent. At the same time, a common form of financing used by first-time home buyers in more affordable neighborhoods is near record levels. Government-insured, FHA mortgages made up about 38 percent of all purchase loans in February, up from 6.4 percent in February 2008.

FEBRUARY HOME SALES (% change from February 2008)
Los Angeles 4,590 +32.4%
Orange 1,879 +27.7%
Riverside 3,420 +59.3%
San Bernardino 2,324 +87.1%
San Diego 2,473 +26.6%
Ventura 545 +10.1%

FEBRUARY MEDIAN PRICES (% change from February 2008)
Los Angeles $299,000 -35.0%
Orange $375,000 -27.9%
Riverside $190,000 -41.5%
San Bernardino $153,000 -47.2%
San Diego $285,000 -31.3%
Ventura $327,000 -26.5%

Source: MDA DataQuick, DQNews.com