The Business Week Ahead : SOUTHLAND

Is Anybody Buying? Third-quarter home sales figures for Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego counties will be released this week, providing a key indicator of whether the housing market is rebounding from its prolonged slump. In August, sales of new and existing homes in Los Angeles County increased 23.6% from July and were up 1.6% from the same month last year. In Orange County, where the government’s bankruptcy has roiled the local market, August home sales showed signs of stabilizing. Sales were down only 3.3% from August of the previous year, an improvement from the 24% average monthly drop reported during the previous nine months of this year, according to DataQuick Information Systems. DataQuick, a La Jolla-based real estate research firm, is scheduled to release the sales figures Thursday.