Orange County housing prices and sales slipped noticeably in January.
The median price of a home sold in OC was $582,000 in January, up 9% from a year earlier but 6% below the record high of $621,000 set just a month earlier.
The number of homes sold in the county continued to slow in January, dropping 32% from December.
A total of 2,594 homes were sold in OC last month. January’s sales were off 11% from a year ago, according to La Jolla-based market tracker DataQuick Information Systems, a unit of Canada’s MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates.
In December, 3,826 houses were sold.
January usually slows from December. But last month was the slowest January since 1997, according to DataQuick.
OC’s January sales reflected the trend across Southern California.
The 20,085 Southern California homes sold in January represents the lowest sales level in five years. The month’s total was down 31% percent from December and down 7% from a year earlier.
The median price paid for a Southern California home was $469,000 last month, down 2% from last month’s record high of $479,000. Last month’s median was up 13% percent from $415,000 for January 2005.
Ventura County remains the most expensive in the region by median price at $608,000, though that is down from the $630,000 seen a month ago.
San Bernardino showed the biggest yearly gain in housing prices, with the $355,000 median price for January representing a 28% increase.
