Home sales plunge

California home sales in October dropped 40.2% from a year earlier, and median prices fell 9.9% from the previous year, the California Assn. of Realtors reported Wednesday.

Nationwide, sales of existing homes in October tumbled 20.7% from a year ago, according to the National Assn. of Realtors.

The October decline was more severe in the West, which posted a 33.1% seasonally adjusted drop in sales. It was the eighth consecutive month of declines in sales nationally.

The median sales price for existing homes fell 5.1% nationwide to $207,800 compared with October 2006, while prices in the West dropped 6.9% to $318,200.

The nationwide inventory of unsold homes climbed 45.9% from a year earlier.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Assn. of Realtors, attributed the sales decline to a squeeze in so-called jumbo loans over $417,000.

“We continue to see the biggest impact in high-cost markets that rely on jumbo loans,” he said.

Statewide, the median sales price fell to $497,110, down 9.9% from the revised $552,020 median price for October 2006, the California report said. The October 2007 median price fell 6.4% compared with September’s $530,830 median price.

peter.hong@latimes.com