Home sales report

An estimated 39,051 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That was up 2.9 percent from 37,967 in April and up 18.3 percent from 33,024 for May 2008. Sales have increased on a year-over-year basis the last eleven months. California sales for the month of May have varied from a low of 32,223 in 1995 to a peak of 67,958 in 2004, the average is 47,621. MDA DataQuick’s statistics go back to 1988.

The median price paid for a home last month was $230,000, up 4.1 percent from $221,000 in April, and down 32.2 percent from $339,000 for May a year ago. Last month’s slight uptick in median is the result of a relative increase in sales of more expensive homes.

Of the existing homes sold last month, 51.1 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on. A year ago it was 39.8 percent.