California home prices down 30% from ’07 levels

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California’s housing slump continued to accelerate across the state in May, as the median price of homes sold fell a stunning 30% from year-earlier levels, with median prices falling by $2,700 per week, DataQuick Information Services reports today.

The median price paid for a California home in May was $339,000, a decline of $145,000 from the median price of $484,000 in May 2007. DataQuick estimates that roughly half of the decline is due to depreciation in home values, and the other half due to changes in the ‘mix’ of homes selling, with cheaper, previously foreclosed houses increasingly dominating sales numbers.

DataQuick had earlier reported that Southern California home prices fell by 27% in the same period, but the statewide numbers are even weaker, as they include the hard-hit Central Valley of the state, where foreclosures are widespread.

Statewide sales of new and existing homes in May were 10.7% below year-ago levels, and 38.3% of the homes that sold in May were ‘foreclosure resales,’ DataQuick reported. A year ago that percentage stood at only 5.4%.

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