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Home sales jump in S California

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-19 08:51

LOS ANGELES -- Home sales jumped in July in Southern California, the first increase in nearly three years, according to figures released on Monday.

The rise appeared to be spurred by the ongoing decline in prices which continued their downward spiral, according to realty research firm DataQuick.

In July, the region's median price fell 31 percent from a year ago to $348,000, the lowest since February 2004, when the local real estate market was in the throes of an extraordinary boom, said DataQuick.

The number of homes sold picked up in July for the first year- over-year expansion since October 2005. All counties, save Los Angeles County, posted at least a 10-percent increase from July 2007.

Overall, 20,329 homes in the six-county region closed escrow last month, a 13.8 percent rise from a year ago.

Los Angeles County remained the region's biggest county which posted an all-time July low of 6,592 sales, down 3.2 percent from a year ago. The median price, meanwhile, dropped 27 percent to 400, 000 dollars.

July's numbers show that, although still slow, the pace of Southern California home sales may have found a floor, experts said.

Each calendar month from September 2007 through June was an all- time sales low, but last month's sales number, while still below the 20-year average, wasn't the worst showing for a July.