Home Resale Market in O.C. Down 15.7%

Single-family residential resale activity in Orange County fell 15.7% in November from a year earlier, the California Assn. of Realtors reported Thursday.

But the dip, while sizable, was the county’s smallest for any month--in a year-to-year comparison--since February, when sales were down 10% over the same month in 1989.

It also gave Orange County--which led the Southland into the current housing slump in late 1988--the best performance in November in the region.

Resales last month declined 34.3% in San Diego County, 33.5% in Los Angeles County, 29.7% in the Riverside-San Bernardino area and 17.9% in Ventura County.

The median resale price of a single-family home in Orange County rose 2.4% last month to $231,250 from $225,840 a year earlier, maintaining the county’s position as one of the state’s highest-priced housing markets.

Statewide, the association reported, resales of single-family homes were down 27.4% from a year earlier.