Home prices edge higher

June's median price of an L.A. County home was $320,000, according to Dataquick, up $20,000 from the previous month but still down $95,000 from June 2008. One reason for the upward price movement is increased action at the higher end. From Dataquick press release:

"The rising median should still be viewed mainly as a sign the market's moving back toward a more normal distribution of sales across the home price spectrum. Sales in many higher-cost neighborhoods couldn't have gotten much lower, so this recent uptick in activity should come as no surprise. The recession and problem mortgages are fueling more high-end distress, hence more high-end 'bargains.' What's missing, still, is a wide-open financing spigot for the would-be buyers of these more expensive homes," said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

Credit appears to be loosening up on the higher end: The share of Socal loans above $417,000 rose to 14.8 percent, the highest since last August. What all this suggests is that the housing market will likely rebound a lot sooner than the jobs market - not surprising given that the housing market took a nosedive well before the unemployment rate jacked up. The question, of course, is how high - and sustained - the rebound will be.

JUNE HOME SALES (% change from June 2008)
Los Angeles 7,636 +34.5%
Orange 2,958 +16.5%
Riverside 4,694 +24.9%
San Bernardino 3,438 +55.2%
San Diego 3,692 +20.0%
Ventura 844 +10.0%

JUNE MEDIAN PRICE (% CHANGE FROM jUNE 2008)
Los Angeles $320,000 -22.9%
Orange $418,000 -11.1%
Riverside $185,000 -32.7%
San Bernardino $140,000 -41.7%
San Diego $314,250 -15.1%
Ventura $365,000 -13.1%

Source: MDA DataQuick