New housing data released today shows that median home prices across many of California's most populous counties plunged in February, with Southern California leading the slide with an average drop of 17.9 percent.
DataQuick Information Systems says median home prices fell from a year ago in 15 major counties.
That drove the median price in a six-county area of Southern California down to $408,000 -- the lowest level since October 2004.
Prices fell 11.6 percent to $548,000 in nine counties around the San Francisco Bay area.
The region's median price was essentially flat from the previous month, but down 17.6 percent from the region's peak median price of $665,000 last summer.
Home sales also kept sliding last month.
DataQuick says sales fell 39 percent from a year earlier in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.
