RPT-UPDATE 2-December home sales up in Southern California

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By Jim Christie

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Home sales in Southern California rose 16.4 percent in December from November and the median price also rose, bolstered by gains in high-end and mid-priced markets, MDA DataQuick said on Tuesday.

December marked only the second time since August 2007 that the median price increased from the year-earlier level, as a greater percentage of homes priced over $500,000 sold, MDA DataQuick, a real estate information service, said.

A total of 22,328 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties last month, up 12.1 percent from a year earlier. The median home price was $289,000, up 1.4 percent from November and 4 percent from a year earlier, the MDA DataQuick report said.

December's sales tally was the highest for the month since 2006, the report said.

"Several forces have pulled the region's median sale price out of its nose-dive and given it lift," John Walsh, MDA DataQuick's president, said.

"We've seen the reselling of foreclosed homes fall off its peak in newer, lower-cost inland areas, while at the same time sales have started to pick up in some of the more established expensive areas. That simple shift in what's selling, and what's not selling, puts upward pressure on the median," Walsh said.

Many markets in Southern California, the state's most populous region, have been hit hard by foreclosures in recent years, dragging down home prices that had soared through much of the last decade.

Sales of foreclosed homes, typically to first-time buyers and investors seeking a low-cost property, have been brisk. Now, it appears demand for more expensive homes is on the rise.

"For example, relatively large annual sales gains were recorded last month in many well-known, higher-end markets including Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Newport Beach -- areas that saw very low sales a year ago," the report said. "Meanwhile, some of the more affordable inland areas that saw robust 2008 sales recorded year-over-year declines last month."

'JUMBO' LENDING IMPROVED

Resales of foreclosed houses and condominiums across the region were well below their peak but still accounted for a large share of home sales last month.

"Foreclosure resales -- houses and condos sold in December that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months -- were 39.6 percent of resales, up from 39.0 percent in November but down from 53.5 percent in December 2008," the report said. Foreclosure sales had peaked at a 56.7 percent share last February.

Meanwhile, the percentage of homes in Southern California selling for more than $500,000 last month rose to 20.2 percent -- the highest level since August 2008 -- from 16.5 percent a year earlier, boosted by more lending for "jumbo" mortgages above $417,000.

Increased lending for jumbo mortgages would help the median home price rise by enabling more purchases in more established markets with more expensive homes, Walsh said.

"But we've also seen price floors, however temporary, form in many areas recently as the foreclosure inventory dwindled and buyers took advantage of lower prices, lower mortgage rates and tax credits. A meaningful comeback in the jumbo loan market would provide another big boost to the pricier areas," Walsh said. (Editing by Leslie Adler)