Existing Home Sales Sink in South

Existing home sales in Southern states sank nearly 24 percent in November compared to the same month last year, while the median sales price fell nearly 11 percent to $154,500, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.

The marked drop in sales in the South — as in the rest of the country — showed how job losses, Wall Street weakness and dwindling consumer confidence forced more people out of the housing market.

Without adjusting for seasonal factors, November sales dropped 17 percent nationwide from a year ago, while the median sales price slid 13 percent to $181,300.

In the South, 20 metro areas posted declining sales compared to the year-ago period, with 15 of those experiencing drops of more than 30 percent, according to the Associated Press-Re/Max Housing Report, also released Tuesday. The report analyzed all home sales recorded by all real estate agents, regardless of company affiliation, in those metropolitan statistical areas.

Meanwhile, the median home price declined in all 22 metro areas covered by the AP-Re/Max report.

Once again, the Florida cities of Miami, Tampa and Orlando had the most dramatic drops in median sales prices, which have been forced down by price competition surrounding foreclosure sales.

November sales in Orlando fell 13 percent compared to last year, but prices plunged 27 percent to $167,000, the AP-Re/Max report showed.

"Foreclosures used to be the exception," said Randy Martin, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker in Orlando. "Now, foreclosures are becoming the baseline for pricing the property. That's the tough part."

He said property values in the Orlando area have come down an average of 1 percent to 2 percent a month all year.

"What $200,000 buys you today, you would have paid $325,000 18 months ago," Martin said. "That's a pretty good snapshot of what's going on."

Meanwhile, two of the slowest markets in terms of sales were the North Carolina metro areas of Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham.