Good news glimmers as lower home prices spur sales, bankruptcies ease.

House prices slipped a bit, sales strengthened and bankruptcies stabilized in this week's Econowatch.

Prices of single-family detached homes in Los Angeles County fell to a median $183,000 in September, off 1.1 percent from August, and off 4.7 percent from a year earlier.

Measured on a per-square-foot basis, average house prices dropped to $131.72 in September, down 8.2 percent from a year earlier.

The peak for Los Angeles home prices, measured on a per-square-foot basis, was $157.87 in July 1989. Since then, house prices have fallen about 16.6 percent, before adjustment for inflation.

Lower interest rates of late have spurred buying; 4,104 single-family homes were sold in September, up 7.5 percent from a like period a year ago.

On the condo side, sales are up also. Buyers snapped up 833 condos in September in the county, a gain of 35 percent from a year earlier.

Curiously, condo prices have been rising, not falling. The median-priced condo sold in September for $154,500, up 4.4 percent from a year earlier.

There is no data on condo sales prices measured on a per-square-foot basis. It may be that better and bigger condos are selling in this market, pulling up the median price.

In other news, regional bankruptcies settled down a bit in September, after a record-smashing August. There were 6,104 Chapter 7 (liquidation) bankruptcies in September in the Southland, down 6 percent from a year earlier, and off 4.7 percent from August.

There were 190 Chapter 11 (reorganization) bankruptcies, off 38.7 percent from August although up 3.8 percent from a year earlier.

Econowatch is published weekly by the Business Journal to help readers keep tabs on Southland commercial and economic trends.