Home Sales Decreased 28.7 Percent in October....

The median price of an existing single-family home in California increased 2 percent in October and sales decreased 28.7 percent compared with the same period a year ago, C.A.R. reported today.

"While it appears that home sales have stabilized over the past three months, it's too soon to say whether or not the market has bottomed out," said C.A.R. President Colleen Badagliacco. "We do expect smaller year-over-year declines in home sales for the remainder of the year."

According to the report, the median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during October 2006 was $548,680, a 2 percent increase over the revised $537,930 median for October 2005.

Also last month, closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled 443,320 at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, down 28.7 percent compared with the sales pace recorded one year earlier and down 0.3 percent from home resale activity in September.

**Taken from the California Association of Realtors Bulletin, dated November 29, 2006.