Median home price here down 18% in a year

The median resale price of a detached single-family home in the Sacramento area slipped to $299,240 in November, down 18 percent year-over-year, the California Association of Realtors reported Friday.

The number of sales was down 19.5 percent year-over-year, but climbed 5.8 percent from October. The bump in sales looked like a reaction to lower prices; the median price of closed escrows fell 3.3 percent from October to November in and around the capital.

Statewide, the drop was even more dramatic, with annualized sales off 36.2 percent fron November 2006, but the median price across the state declined only 11.9 percent.

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"While it is normal for sales to decline at this time of year, regional sales fell more steeply than usual because of the ongoing liquidity crunch and tighter underwriting standards," said association president William E. Brown in a news release.

The group collects sales data from more than 90 Realtor groups statewide and calculates annualized sales based on a formula that applies seasonal adjustments to that month's sales as if that rate continued for a full year. November sales produced an annualized rate of 287,600 sales statewide, versus a rate of 450,930 in November 2006.

Only a handful of regions in California saw the median sales price rise over the past year; Santa Barbara County prices were up 31 percent to $673,480, Santa Clara climbed 10.3 percent to $855,000 and the San Francisco Bay area was up 7.3 percent to $793,930.

The biggest declines in median price were in the High Desert, down 21 percent to $262,650; north Santa Barbara County, down 18.6 percent to $354,760; and Sacramento.

The group cautioned that areas with small numbers of sales could produce wide swings in price without necessarily reflecting a broader trend.