June L.A. home prices are up over May -- in the top tier

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The latest numbers from a key gauge of home prices showed further signs of firming in the Los Angeles market -- at least at the high end.On an unadjusted basis, prices in the Los Angeles area rose 1.1% in June compared with May, according to the latest Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which tracks home prices in 20 major metro areas in the U.S.

That was the first month-to-month increase recorded for the L.A. area by the closely watched index since September 2006. (When adjusted for seasonal sales trends, prices were up 0.4%.)

Although bolstering recent reports that home prices may have bottomed out in L.A., the wealth -- what’s left of it, anyway -- isn’t being shared equally.

At the lower tier of the market (homes priced under $278,293), prices were actually down 1.5% in June compared to May (down 2.2% seasonally adjusted), while the middle tier ($278,293-$441,092) was up 0.7% on an unadjusted basis and was down 0.1% when seasonally adjusted, according to Case-Shiller.The top tier ($441,972 and above) was up 1.6% unadjusted and 0.5% on an adjusted basis.

In July, the median home price in Los Angeles was $339,430, according to the California Assn. of Realtors.
That’s down 44% from the peak of $605,300 reached in August 2007, according to the association.
But the July 2009 median price rose 3.9% compared with June’s $274,740 median price.

-- Martin Zimmerman