by Calculated Risk on 6/18/2008 01:36:00 PM

From DataQuick: Bay Area home sales return to record low in May

After a record burst of activity between March and April, Bay Area home sales eased a bit last month to the slowest pace for a May in over 20 years. Sales were weakest in many higher-end coastal markets but rose well above year-ago levels in some inland areas where foreclosures and deep discounts lured bargain hunters.

A total of 6,216 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the nine-county Bay Area in May. That was down 1.5 percent from 6,310 in March, and down 23.1 percent from 8,080 in May 2007, DataQuick Information Systems reported.

Last month was the slowest May in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988.
...
In May, post-foreclosure homes continued to play a big role in the market. Across the nine-county region, 25.6 percent of the homes that resold had been foreclosed on at some point in the prior 12 months, down from 26 percent in April but up from 3.3 percent a year ago.
...
The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $517,000 last month, down 0.2 percent from $518,000 in April, and down a record 21.7 percent from $660,000 in May last year. May's median was 22.3 percent lower than the peak $665,000 median in June and July last year. The last time the median was lower than last month's $517,000 was back in September 2004, when it was $510,000.
...
Foreclosure activity is at record levels ...

The pattern continues: the low end areas are seeing some pickup in sales, as foreclosures dominate. Sales are sluggish (and prices still sticky) in high end areas.