SOUTHLAND HOUSING MARKET STILL EASING.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer

The housing market continued its cooling trend in October with sales across Southern California inching up from their year-ago level and annual price increases remaining in the midteens percentage wise, an industry tracker reported Tuesday.

Last month consumers bought 28,489 new and previously owned houses and condominiums in the six-county region from Ventura to San Diego. That's 1.1 percent more than a year ago and 10.2 percent under September's level, a typical change for this time of year, said DataQuick Information Systems.

Sales had been falling slightly on a year-over-year basis during the first half of 2005 but started creeping back up in August, the La Jolla-based company said.

Through the first 10 months of the year 299,109 houses and condos have sold, down 0.1 percent from the like period of 2004.

While there are signs that the market is easing back - sales are softening in some markets and at the high end, appreciation rates are moderating and inventory is building - most analysts believe it will be a soft landing rather than a crash.

``Home values have doubled in the past four years and almost all, if not all of those gains are here to stay,'' Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president, said in a statement.

During October, the median price paid for a home increased an annual 15.4 percent to $473,000. The price slipped 0.4 percent from September.

The record is $476,000 set in August.

Annual appreciation rates have been in the midteens percentage wise since April, DataQuick said.

Last month the gains ranged from a low of 4.9 percent in San Diego County to a high of 33.1 percent in San Bernardino County.

``We keep getting asked if the end is near. The question is almost phrased in biblical terms. But there is no indication other than the normal ebb and flow of a housing market,'' said DataQuick analyst John Karevoll.

DataQuick's report showed that:

--In Los Angeles County, sales increased an annual 0.9 percent to 9,792 transactions. The median price jumped 20.3 percent to $492,000.

--In Ventura County sales, fell 2.8 percent and the median price rose 15.1 percent to $596,000.

Karevoll said that the market is the most balanced that it's been in months, which bodes well for buyers since interest rates have started moving up.

And inventory is also beginning to build, in part because some potential sellers are trying to time the peak in appreciation gains.

DataQuick also believes that by next year at this time prices will be higher than they are now but the big question is by how much.

The company also does not see any major signs of market distress. Foreclosure activity is edging up, but from a record low level. Down-payment sizes are stable, as are flipping rates and nonowner-occupied buying activity.

In September, the typical monthly mortgage payment that a Southern California buyer committed to was $2,169, up from $2,092 in August and $1,811 a year ago.

Adjusted for inflation, current payments are about 5 percent below their peak in the spring of 1989, the company said.

Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., believes that next year's market will look a lot like what was predicted for 2004 and 2005.

``The consensus seems to be that unit sales will decline next year and the median price will level off,'' he said.

Gregory J. Wilcox, [phone]

greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com