50% of Bay Area December Home Sales Were Foreclosures

Half of Bay Area home sales in December were foreclosures, and the median home price for the whole nine-county region was $330,000, down from 43.8% from a year ago—this includes condos and single family homes. This according to DataQuick and a San Francisco Chronicle report:

A total of 5,171 existing homes changed hands in December, up 69.6 percent from 3,049 the previous year, DataQuick said. Sales volume increased the most dramatically in foreclosure-ridden counties. In Contra Costa, 1,384 existing homes were sold, up 152.6 percent from 548 last December. In Solano, the 623 existing homes that sold represented a 185.8 percent increase from 218 last year.

Every single Bay Area county experienced double-digit declines in the median price. The drops for existing homes ranged from 11.8 percent in San Francisco to 48.4 percent in Contra Costa.

The median marks the point at which half the homes sold for more, and half for less. It reflects the composition of homes sold rather than an across-the-board change in all home values.

Experts said that banks increasingly are unloading foreclosed homes at bargain prices.