Investors flood Southern California housing market in December

A record number of investors and second-home buyers flooded the Southern California real estate market in December, though not enough to give sales in the region a bump over the same month a year earlier.

With the investor dominance, low-cost homes reigned. That helped push the region’s median home price back down to its lowest level in 12 months, according to San Diego real estate firm DataQuick.

Sales fell 1.4% from the same month a year earlier, with a total of 19,247 homes bought throughout the six-county region. Sales fell the most in San Bernardino, down 7.2% from the same month a year prior.

The region’s median home price -- the point at which half of the homes in the region sell for more and half for less -- fell 6.9% to $270,000.

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