by Calculated Risk on 11/20/2008 01:13:00 PM

From DataQuick: Bay Area median price tumbles to $375K; sales reach high for '08

Bay Area homes sold at their fastest pace in 17 months in October as buyers favored more affordable inland areas where depreciation and foreclosures have hit hardest. As a result, the median sale price continued its steep, months-long decline, falling a record 40.6 percent, or $256,000, from a year ago, a real estate information service reported.
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Last month's sales were the highest for any month since June 2007, when 7,964 homes sold. But sales were still the second-lowest for any October since 1995 and were 14.2 percent below the average number sold during October since 1988, when DataQuick's statistics begin.
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Last month 44.8 percent of all existing homes sold in the Bay Area had been foreclosed on at some point in the prior 12 months, up from 41.9 percent in September and 8.2 percent a year ago.

Be careful with the median price - the mix has shifted to more homes in lower priced neighborhoods with significant foreclosure resale activity - and that reduces the median price. The Case-Shiller index is a better measure of house price declines.