April home sales were strong in the inland areas, but still sluggish in communities closer to the coast, according to the latest Dataquick numbers. L.A. County had a 28.1 percent increase in sales from a year earlier but a 31 percent drop in prices. The April median is $300,000. Foreclosures accounted for 53.6 percent of all Southland resales last month. The amount of activity, however, depended largely on location. From the press release:

Among the reasons high-end sales remain so sluggish: The "jumbo" mortgages needed to buy such homes have been more expensive and much harder to obtain since August 2007, when the credit crunch hit. Before then, nearly 40 percent of Southland sales were financed with jumbo loans, then defined as over $417,000. Last month it was 10.9 percent. In the more affordable inland areas, first-time buyers have relied heavily on government-insured FHA financing. Such loans were used to finance a near-record 39.1 percent of all Southland home purchases last month, up from 18.4 percent a year ago. In the Inland Empire, more than half of all April home purchases were financed with FHA loans.

Still lots of concern about more layoffs, which would result in foreclosures at all levels, and more defaults triggered by "option ARM" and "stated income" loans (some of those have been used in the higher-end markets).

APRIL HOME SALES (% change from April 2008)
Los Angeles 6,425 +28.1%
Orange 2,391 +10.4%
Riverside 4,469 +40.3%
San Bernardino 3,130 +87.8%
Ventura 724 -6.1%
Source: MDA DataQuick, DQNews.com

APRIL MEDIAN HOME PRICES (% change from April 2008)
Los Angeles $300,000 -31.0%
Orange $380,000 -24.0%
Riverside $180,000 -39.0%
San Bernardino $138,500 -47.7%
Ventura $340,000 -23.6%

Source: MDA DataQuick, DQNews.com