Housing Prices

U.S. sales of existing homes fell for a sixth straight month in January, while prices tumbled 4.6% amid swelling inventories, according to a report Monday that offered no end in sight for the housing slump. The pace of existing-home sales fell 0.4% in January to an annual rate of 4.89 million units, the National Assn. of Realtors said in its report. Economists polled by Reuters had expected home resales to fall to a 4.80-million-unit pace from the 4.

Home prices are falling sharply across the nation, but the decline is especially steep in Los Angeles and Orange counties. The price of existing single-family homes across the country fell by 8.9% in the last three months of 2007 from the fourth quarter of 2006, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday. That was the sharpest year-to-year drop in the index's 20-year history. The Los Angeles-area index, which includes Orange County, posted a 13.

Just when it was looking like things couldn't get any worse in the housing market, government officials announced Tuesday that home prices had their biggest fourth-quarter drop in 17 years. At the same time, foreclosure filings in California soared 120% in January from a year earlier to 57,158, according to Irvine-based market researcher RealtyTrac. California's foreclosure rate was second only to Nevada nationwide.

As the housing slump worsened last fall, Don Dale struggled to find buyers for the $900,000 houses he was selling for Shea Homes in the hills of Aliso Viejo. Then in January, Shea slashed prices to about $750,000. Dale sold nine in one day. "If there is value, there are buyers," Dale said. Stuck with excess inventory, builders throughout California are beginning to offer steep discounts on new homes, sometimes at a loss. Centex Corp. is touting the "greatest prices in years" in its ads.

Southern California home prices are now 19% below their peak last year, and the surprisingly rapid decline is leading experts to predict that the housing slump will be worse than initially thought -- surpassing the severe downturn of the 1990s. Home values also plunged 19% during the last real estate bust, but that was over a six-year period ending in 1997. Prices have now fallen just as much in less than a year. That trend is causing analysts to rethink their previous forecasts. Delores A.

Sales of existing U.S. homes rose 2.9% in February from January -- the first increase since July -- and California posted a 9.5% rise in sales, reports Monday showed. But many analysts said it was too soon to know whether the prolonged slide in housing had ended. And they noted that prices were down sharply. The National Assn. of Realtors said sales of existing homes nationwide reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.03 million units last month, compared with 4.89 million in January.

Re "Housing bailout gains backers," March 22 Whether or not the government bails out homeowners, it must institute extensive regulations on American indebtedness. Companies buy and package shaky mortgages to use as collateral for securities to be sold to companies that borrow money to buy them; this money is also borrowed from companies that have borrowed money to lend. This inverted pyramid of paper balances precariously on mortgages taken out by the John and Jane Does who cannot afford them if the housing market corrects, as it did and will again.

The housing market's wipeout means there are deals to be found, even at the beach. Grant Niman landed his dream home in Hermosa Beach after a careful six-month search. The 46-year-old certified public accountant is in escrow on a three-story, four-bedroom home within four blocks of the sand. The sale price came in just under $1.4 million. Comparable houses near Niman's pick were selling for as much as $200,000 higher in December. "It was an incredibly good deal.

The chart lists median prices in thousands of dollars for sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums by ZIP Code. Community names are included for convenience. Some ZIP Codes include multiple cities that, due to space limitations, cannot all be listed by name. Percentage changes are a year-over-year comparison for the reporting month. The price per square foot in the far right column includes only single-family home sales and does not include attached garages. Prices, provided by DataQuick Information Systems in La Jolla, are drawn from official county records and are determined on the basis of the documentary transfer tax. If you have a question, call (909)

There's good news and bad news for those desperately wanting the housing market to get well. A Reuters-Zogby poll of 1,049 people last month indicated nearly 54% believe this is a good time to buy a house. Another survey -- from Associated Press and AOL -- says the number is even higher. This report, gleaned from interviews with about 1,000 adults in late March and early April, said 59% think it's a good time to buy. However, that same AP-AOL poll indicated that 60% "would not buy" within the next two years.