L.A. County Home Sales Rise in April

Home sales in Los Angeles County rose by 8 percent in April, compared to the same month a year ago, while prices dipped by 3.1 percent, a real estate information service announced Wednesday.

A total of 6,510 homes changed hands locally last month, compared to 6,025 in April 2011, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The median price of a home in Los Angeles County in April was $310,000, down from $320,000 in April 2011.

In Orange County, 2,920 homes were sold in April, up 17.5 percent from April 2011, when 2,485 were sold. The median home price was $420,000 last month, down 2.3 percent from $430,000 in April 2011.

A total of 19,282 new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in April, according to DataQuick. That was down 3.4 percent from 19,953 in March, and up 5.1 percent from 18,344 in April 2011.

"The housing market continued its painfully slow crawl back toward normalcy last month," said John Walsh, DataQuick president. "You can see it in the fading role of foreclosures, the uptick in median prices here and there, and the higher levels of sales in coastal counties."

The median price for a Southern California home was $290,000 last month, up 3.6 percent from $280,000 in both the previous month and April 2011, according to DataQuick.