STATE HOME SALES PLUMMET PACE IS DOWN NEARLY 21 PERCENT FROM A YEAR AGO PRICES CREEP HIGHER.

Byline: GREGORY J. WILCOX

Staff Writer

Home sales in California fell an annual 20.8 percent during March in response to rising mortgage rates and tighter lending standards, a trade association said Tuesday.

Despite the sales slide, the median price of a previously owned house increased an annual 3.2 percent to $580,090, said the Los Angeles-based California Association of Realtors.

If the market matched March's pace all year, 427,110 properties would change hands, the association said.

Last March's annualized rate of 539,090 was the most for any month in 2006.

Potential buyers are now jittery, said association president Colleen Badagliacco.

"Recent news regarding foreclosures and the subprime situation had an adverse impact on the market psychology of many buyers, leading some to delay their home-purchase decisions," she said in a statement.

Sales declined in 18 of 20 markets statewide and the median price fell from the year-ago level in 12.

The report showed that:

In Los Angeles County, the median price increased an annual 2.6 percent to $571,110 and sales fell 4.6 percent from a year ago. They plunged 55.2 percent from February.

In Ventura County, the median price slipped an annual 0.9 percent to $672,550 and sales fell 27.9 percent annually and 18.7 percent monthly.

In the High Desert, which includes the Antelope Valley, sales plunged an annual 45.4 percent and fell 11.6 percent from February. The median price fell an annual 1.8 percent to $320,830 and dipped 0.3 percent from February.

In the Inland Empire, the median price fell an annual 1.7 percent to $394,370 and dropped 3.7 percent from February. Sales fell 47.6 percent annually and 40.9 percent monthly.

For the first time since October 2006, time on the market was less than 60 days.

Last month, 30-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 6.16 percent versus 6.32 percent in March 2006, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac. However, adjustable-mortgage interest rates averaged 5.44 percent in March, up from 5.42 percent a year ago.

At the end of March there was an 8.7-month supply of listings at the current sales pace, up from 4.7 months for the same period a year ago.

"I think buyers are cautions. The availability of inventory has diminished any urgency that was in the market during the boom period. They are interested but they are going to look very carefully and make their decision in good time," said Leslie Appleton-Young, the association's vice president and chief economist.

She expects prices to fall slightly in the coming months.

Jack Kyser, vice president and chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said that trouble will be greatest in the Inland Empire and central part of the state because those areas saw a surge of new home construction in the last several years.

However, there is not an excess in the big Los Angeles area market.

He agrees that buyers no longer feel a sense of urgency to jump into the market.

"The pendulum has definitely swung in their favor. And (interest) rates are still pretty attractive, and if you qualify you can go out armed and dangerous and find out how motivated the seller really is," he said.

greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com

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