Median Home Prices Up in LA County, Diamond Bar, and Walnut

By City News Service

The median price of a home in Los Angeles County jumped by 22.2 percent in December, compared with the same month a year ago, while the number of homes sold dipped by 13.3 percent, a real estate information service announced last week.

According to DataQuick, the median price of a Los Angeles County home was $430,000 last month, up from $352,000 in December 2012. A total of 6,240 homes were sold in the county, down from 7,198 during the same month the previous year.

The median home value in Walnut is $688,600, according to Zillow.com. That figure is up 22.1 percent from this time last year.

Zillow lists Diamond Bar's median home value at$566,700, also up 22.1 percent from this time last year.

In Orange County, the median price was $570,000 last month, up 21.3 percent from $470,000 in December 2012. The number of homes sold increased by 0.6 percent, from 3,070 in December 2012 to 3,089 last month.

A total of 18,415 new and resale houses and condos changed hands in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month, according to DataQuick. That was up 6.5 percent from 17,283 in November and down 9.2 percent from 20,274 in December 2012.

The median price for a Southern California home was $395,000 in December, up 2.6 percent from $385,000 in November and up 22.3 percent from $323,000 in December 2012.

Last month's median price was the highest since February 2008, when the median was $408,000, according to DataQuick.

"Sales have fallen short of the same period a year earlier for three consecutive months now, and the pitifully low inventory is the main culprit," according to DataQuick President John Walsh. "The jump in home values over the last year suggests we'll eventually see a lot more people interested in selling their homes, which would help ease the inventory crunch. More supply would put downward pressure on prices, as would rising mortgage rates."

--Local Editor Melanie C. Johnson contributed to this report.