California's median home price rises 7% in June from May

LOS ANGELES -- The median home price in California jumped 7% last month from May, as life began to return to the long-sluggish market for high-end homes, a tracking firm said Thursday.

The statewide median price jumped to $246,000, up from $230,000 in May, marking the second consecutive month of increases, MDA DataQuick said.

Last month's figure, however, was down 25% from $328,000 in June 2008.

DataQuick also said 44,167 homes were sold statewide last month, up more than 13% from 39,051 in May and nearly 26% from 35,202 in June 2008. The figures marked the 12th consecutive month that sales have increased on a year-over-year basis, the firm said.

DataQuick president John Walsh said thawing credit markets were allowing more borrowers to close deals on homes, especially in higher-end neighborhoods where sales have been slow.

"We're just now seeing the beginnings of more normal mortgage lending patterns," he said. "There's still a long way to go, but it looks like the worst of the grind is over."

In a nine-county area of Northern California, the median home price increased more than 3%, reaching $352,000 in June from $341,500 in May. It was the third month in a row that prices increased.

DataQuick said 8,644 homes were sold in that region in June, the highest monthly number in almost three years. The figure was up more than 16% from 7,447 in May and more than 20% from 7,178 in June 2008.

In Southern California, the median price surged more than 6% to $265,000 in June from May. Home sales in the six-county area climbed to their highest level in 30 months.

Foreclosures statewide accounted for about 46% of home sales, making June the first month since August that foreclosures accounted for less than half of all the transactions.