Home sales in state jump 57%

California home sales in August were up 57% from a year earlier, the first year-over-year gain in the current real estate downturn, the California Assn. of Realtors reported. Hefty price cuts continue to fuel sales -- prices were down 41%.

The median August sale price was $350,140, down from $588,670 a year earlier. Realtors group chief economist Leslie Appleton-Young said it was too early to call a bottom for prices, which will “experience additional downward pressure as we move into the off-peak season in the coming months, and will continue to face pressure from distressed sales.”

In other words, we are heading into the slow winter season for home sales, and foreclosures keep mounting.

-- Peter Hong