LANCASTER HOMES UP, PALMDALE NOT MEDIAN PRICES IN BOTH CITIES MOVE SLIGHTLY.

Byline: Daily News

PALMDALE -- Lancaster home-sale prices hit another record in March while Palmdale home prices retreated from the record set the previous month.

Lancaster's median price for both new and resale homes rose to $330,000, up from the previous high of $325,000 in February, according to sales statistics released by the California Association of Realtors.

The March median was 28.2 percent ahead of a year ago.

In Palmdale, the median price dipped to $365,000, down from $375,000 in February. Palmdale's March median was 21.8 percent ahead of a year ago.

Statewide, the March median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California was $561,350, up from $535,470 in February but still below the $568,730 statewide record set in August.

Statewide sales were down 15.1 percent compared with the same period a year ago, the California Association of Realtors reported.

``The level of sales activity remained below the record-setting levels that occurred over the last two years, but the pace of sales appears to be picking up,'' association President Vince Malta said. ``Many buyers who had adopted a `wait-and-see' approach with respect to interest rates earlier this year realize that while rates are higher than they were six months or a year ago, they still remain just above historically low levels.''

The median March state price was a 13 percent increase over March 2005. Thirty-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 6.32 percent during March 2006, compared with 5.93 percent in March 2005, according to Freddie Mac. Adjustable-mortgage interest rates averaged 5.42 percent in March 2006 compared with 4.23 percent in March 2005.

In Rosamond, the March median was $279,000, down from the record $285,000 in February. Rosamond's March median was 22.1 percent ahead of prices a year earlier.

California City's median for March was $212,500, up from $199,750 a month earlier and up 43.1 percent from a year earlier -- the seventh-highest percentage gain in California.

Tehachapi's March median was $285,000, up from $284,500 in February but below the record $310,000 in November. The Tehachapi March median was up 19.5 percent from a year earlier.

Los Angeles County's March median was a record $512,500, up from $499,000 the month before. The county median was up 16.5 percent over a year ago.

Statewide, the 10 cities and communities with the greatest median home-price increases in March 2006 compared with the same period a year ago were: Reedley, 58.9 percent; Atwater, 52 percent; Twentynine Palms, 48.8 percent; Barstow, 45.7 percent; Beaumont, 45.6 percent; Taft, 44 percent; California City, 43.1 percent; Burlingame, 40.4 percent; Porterville, 40.3 percent; and Highland, 36.8 percent.

Statewide, the 10 cities and communities with the highest median home prices in California during March 2006 were: Laguna Beach, $1,827,000; Burlingame, $1,720,000; Beverly Hills, $1,665,000; Los Altos, $1,626,000; Manhattan Beach, $1,625,000; Newport Beach, $1,520,000; Coronado, $1,463,750; Saratoga, $1,391,000; Los Gatos, $1,300,000; and Calabasas, $1,259,500.