San Francisco area home prices edge up

Home sales slowed last month in a nine-county swath around San Francisco Bay, with the median price increasing only slightly from a year earlier, a research firm said Wednesday.

The median home price for the combined counties last month was $612,000, up 0.5% from $609,000 in the year-earlier period, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems.

In all, 7,488 houses and condominiums were sold in the region, down 19.9% from December 2005 and up 3.9% from November. The last time fewer homes were sold in the region in December was 1996.

San Francisco County had the biggest median price jump in the region, up 3.6% to $753,000. Sonoma County had the biggest percentage drop, down 6.3% to $523,000. Other counties in the survey were Solano, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Alameda, Marin, Napa and Santa Clara.