Drop in California House Prices Tapers to 3.2% as Sales Climb

California single-family home prices fell 3.2% in October from a year earlier, helping lift sales, the state Association of Realtors said.

The median price for an existing, detached house fell to $297,500 from $307,210 a year earlier, the Los Angeles-based group said today in a statement. Prices gained 0.3% from the previous month, the association said.

Sales of existing houses climbed 1% in October from a year earlier, the Realtors group said. The state is on pace to record 562,400 sales in 2009, based on the rate of transactions last month. Foreclosures represented 41% of transactions, research company MDA DataQuick said on Nov. 19.

It took a median of 34.1 days to sell a California house in October, down from 45.5 days a year earlier, the Realtors group said. The association’s index of unsold inventory dropped to a 4 month supply from 6.1 months a year earlier. The index shows the time needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.

The median price for a California condominium was $267,520, down 3.6% from a year earlier and 1% from September, the Realtors group said. Condominium sales rose 9.4% from a year earlier and 5.5% from September.