Market is Stablizing? Already?

The number crunchers over at MD/DataQuick are out with their March sales figures, and sales in SoCal rose 52 percent from a year earlier, according to Bloomberg. The median price dropped 32 percent from a year ago to $300,000 in Los Angeles. Over at the Los Angeles Times, they slapped a very attention-grabbing headline on their story: "Southern California home prices may be stabilizing." The story refers to the $250,000 median March sale price for all of Southern California, a price that has held steady for the last two months, and as the story points out, "the housing market may be stabilizing for at least starter housing." More via the paper: "But the robust sales activity has been concentrated on lower-priced homes, DataQuick said. The firm estimates homes in more costly neighborhoods have dropped in value by only half as much as homes in lower-priced areas. Sales at the high end "are dormant right now," said DataQuick president John Walsh. The median sales price will rise if activity picks up in that segment." According to Walsh, sales should pick up in the higher end of the market when jumbo loan financing becomes available again, notes the Union-Tribune. According to Bloomberg, foreclosure deals accounted for more than 55 percent of the sales in March. [Bloomberg/LA Times]