Prices stabilizing as volumes increase:

SoCal home prices fall in July, sales up

by Elliot Spagat

(AP) A research firm says Southern California home prices fell 31 percent in July from last year, while the number of homes sold hit its highest level since March 2007.

MDA DataQuick said in its report Monday that the median price for new and resale homes and condos dropped to $348,000 last month in the six-county region. That’s down from the market peak of $505,000 in July 2007 and down slightly from $355,000 in June.

The report says a total of 20,329 homes and condos were sold during the month, up 13.8 percent from July 2007 and up 16.7 percent from June.

It says foreclosures accounted for 43.6 percent of all resold properties last month, up from 7.9 percent in July 2007 and a revised 41.8 percent in June.