Listing prices now down 159K from bubble peak

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Median listing prices in Los Angeles County slipped another $4,000 over the past week, falling to $420,000 -- a decline of $159,000 since asking prices peaked in April of 2006, according to Housing Tracker’s weekly analysis of MLS listings.

Inventory of houses and condos for sale continued to decline, and is now trailing year-ago levels by 1.4%.

Numbers: At $420,000, median listing prices are down 20.8% from year-ago levels -- the steepest decline yet measured in this slump -- and are 27.6% below their peak level of $579,666. The inventory of homes and condos for sale dropped by nearly 500 units, to 43,086.

Date Median listing price Inventory

4/06 $579,666 27,251
4/07 $545,000 35,489
5/07 $545,000 38,297
6/07 $540,000 40,766 (up 20.4% y/y)
7/07 $535,000 42,685 (up 14.5% y/y)
8/07 $529,000 44,483 (up 13.6% y/y)
9/07 $520,000 46,414 (up 16.9% y/y)
10/07 $510,000 46,603 (up 15.6% y/y)
11/07 $499,900 46,503 (up 19.0% y/y)
12/07 $495,000 (down 10.0% y/y) 43,174 (up 28.2% y/y)
1/08 $479,900 (down 12.6%) 40,850 (up 33.3% y/y)
2/08 $475,000 (down 13.5%) 43,625 (up 38.3%)
3/08 $464,900 (down 15.5%) 42,098 (up 31.4%)
4/08 $450,000 (down 17.4%) 42,430 (up 16.7%)
5/08 $449,900 (down 17.4%) 42,532 (up 11.1%)
6/08 $440,000 (down 18.5%) 42,398 (up 4.0%)
7/7/08 $425,000 (down 20.6%) 44,726 (up 5.2%)
7/14/08 $425,000 (down 20.6%) 44,636 (up 4.6%)
7/21/08 $424,000 (down 20.7%) 43,584 (up 0.8%)
7/28/08 $420,000 (down 20.8%) 43,086 (down 1.4%)

--Peter Viles
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