High prices and a tight inventory in December pushed home sales to a six-year low in the Southern California region.
A San Diego-based real estate tracking firm said the six-county region's median home price reached its highest point in nearly six years in December. The median price hit $395,000. That's up more than 22.3 percent from a year ago.
The number of December home sales dropped by 9.2 percent when compared to the same month a year ago. Andrew LePage works with the real estate tracking firm DataQuick. He said one reason for the price hike and sales decline is a small inventory.
"A lot of people remain under water, meaning they owe more than their homes are worth," LePage said. "And others simply aren't content yet with what their homes will fetch."
LePage said many people remember what homes on their street sold for back in the boom times and they're holding out for something closer to that.
LePage says he expects more homeowners to put their houses on the market if prices keep climbing and that could help moderate the rapidly rising home values.
San Diego's median home price has reached $420,000. The number of homes changing hands was down more than 17 percent when comparing December to the year before.
