San Francisco home sales reach their lowest level

By Margarita Snegireva. San Francisco home sales reached their record low level for the month amid a steep drop in the number of "jumbo" mortgages issued to buyers.

Photo: San Francisco home sales reach their lowest level

For the nine-county area, the median home price fell 4.9 percent and sales volume plummeted 43.2 percent to a record low in December - the 35th consecutive month of decreasing sales, said DataQuick Information Systems, a La Jolla (San Diego County) research firm.

In Alameda County, 983 new and resale houses and condominiums were sold last month, down 38.1 percent from 1,589 sold in December 2006. The median price paid for a home in the county was $540,000, an 8.3 percent drop from $589,000 a year ago. Due to late data availability, Alameda County statistics for last month were extrapolated from the first three weeks of the month.

Contra Costa County reported 971 homes sold in December, which represented a 45.7 percent dropoff from 1,788 in December 2006, DataQuick reported. The median price paid for a house or condo in the county last month was $505,000, down 11.3 percent from the $569,500 median a year earlier.