California Home Prices, Sales Rise

The median sales price of existing, single-family homes in March rose 6% from the previous month to $177,910, according to the California Assn. of Realtors. The March increase was the largest month-to-month jump in 17 years. Sales in March grew 1.8% to 522,810 homes on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. Nationwide, existing home sales fell 2.8% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.11 million units, from a revised 4.23 million in February, according to the National Assn. of Realtors. The median price of an existing home rose to $120,000 in March from $117,500 in February.