CNS - Home sales in Los Angeles County declined 23 percent in July, compared to the same month a year ago, but prices increased 5.3 percent, according to figures released by a real estate information service.

A total of 6,809 homes sold in July, down from 8,844 for the same month a year ago, while the median price of a home in Los Angeles County last month was $547,500, up from $520,000 in July 2006, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems.

The increase in home values in Los Angeles County was attributed to continued positive sales activity in high-end markets, DataQuick officials said.

In Orange County, the median home price was $640,000, unchanged from the figure for the same period in July last year, according to DataQuick. A total of 2,391 homes were sold in the county last month, down 19.8 percent from last July’s 2,982 home sales.

“These are interesting times because the slowdown in home sales isn’t part of a broader economic slowdown, it’s a post-frenzy re-balancing act,” said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

The median price of a Southern California home was $505,000 in July, up 0.6 percent from $502,000 in June, and up 3.7 percent from $487,000 in July of last year.

Home sales in the six-county Southern California area remained at their lowest level since the mid-1990s. A total of 17,867 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was down 11.4 percent from 20,166 for the previous month, and down 27.4 percent from 24,614 in July last year.

Last month’s homes sales in Southern California were the lowest for any July since 1995, when 16,225 homes sold, according to DataQuick.

Published in : Business, Finance