Orange County home prices rebounded in December, with the median price of a home sold here rising 3.4% to $642,000, versus a year ago.
Last month’s totals were aided by an increase in new home sales. December’s median price was just $4,000 off the record high for the county, set in June 2006.
December’s totals also were up 4.2% from November’s median price of $616,000, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems, a unit of Canada’s MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates.
November’s results had marked the first time in nearly 10 years that local home prices failed to post an annual gain.
Still, sales in the county remained sluggish in December.
The number of homes sold in the county dropped 28.9% in December to 2,719, compared to a year ago. It was the 14th straight month that home sales came in below year-ago levels.
The mixed signals of sluggish sales and rising prices in OC was seen across Southern California, which saw sales remain at a 10-year low but prices reach a new high.
The Southland saw 22,485 homes sold last month, a 22% drop from the year before. At the same time, the median price of a Southern California home was a record $495,000 in December, a 3.3% increase from a year ago.
