L.A. housing market still struggling

December sales in L.A. County were up 18 percent from the previous month, but down 15 percent from a year earlier. The median price was up slightly from November and down slightly from December 2009. All told, it's a market that's going nowhere fast, the result of high unemployment, tight credit, and record-low new-home sales, according to Dataquick. Sales might perk up by spring, provided that interest rates remain low and the economy continues to improve. But it's likely to be a real slog. From press release:

"Looking back at 2010, it's hard to ignore the ongoing slump in the Southland's new-home market," [said John Walsh, DataQuick president]."Last year we saw the lowest sales by builders in two decades - less than half the annual average since 1988. 2009 wasn't much better. What happens next will hinge largely on the pace of the economic recovery and the manner in which lenders manage their inventories of distressed properties, which are competition for new homes."

Foreclosure resales accounted for 34.3 percent of the resale market last month, down a bit from a year earlier. And 21.1 percent of all sales were for $500,000 or more, pretty much unchanged.

DECEMBER HOME SALES (% change from December 2009)
Los Angeles 6,536 -14.9%
Orange 2,739 -5.1%
Riverside 3,696 -13.7%
San Bernardino 2,605 -11.2%
Ventura 761 -15.1%

DECEMBER MEDIAN PRICE (% change from December 2009)
Los Angeles $330,000 -2.7%
Orange $410,000 -5.7%
Riverside $200,000 2.0%
San Bernardino $152,000 -1.3%
Ventura $355,000 -1.4%

Source: MDA DataQuick