Southern California sees first drop in housing prices in 7 years

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- The median price of a Los Angeles County home rose by 2.1 percent in March, compared to the same month a year ago, despite median prices across Southern California dropping for the first time in seven years, according to figures released Friday.

According to the CoreLogic real estate information service, the median price of a Los Angeles County home was $597,500 in March, up from $585,000 in March 2018. A total of 5,749 homes were sold in the county, down from 6,801 during the same month a year ago.

In Orange County, the median price was $720,000 in March, down 0.7 percent from $725,000 in March 2018. The number of homes sold went from 3,278 in March 2018 to 3,347 last month.

A total of 17,960 new and resale houses and condos changed hands in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month, according to CoreLogic. That was up 33.4 percent from 13,465 in February, and down 14.1 percent from 20,916 in March 2018.

The median price of a Southern California home was $518,500 in March, up 1.2 percent from $512,500 in February but down 0.1 percent from $519,000 in March 2018.

"The tiny, year-over-year decline -- 0.1 percent -- in Southern California's overall median sale price last month marked the first annual decrease in seven years,'' said Andrew LePage, research analyst with CoreLogic. "This reflects both a flattening of home prices in recent months as well as a shift in market mix, where sales in higher-cost areas represent a slightly lower share of all activity.''