As California and much of the nation see home prices drop, the South Bay Association of Realtors today will release local statistics that appear to buck that trend.

The South Bay's median price for a single-family home in December was $741,500, or 14.3 percent more than a year earlier, according to the group.

The statistics include new and resold homes. The median price represents the middle figure where half of all homes sold for more and half sold for less.

The median price increase came despite a 48percent annual drop in home sales in December. A drop in sales usually represents a softening of the market, where fewer people are buying homes.

Furthermore, the median listing price of a single-family home fell 6.9 percent in December compared with a year earlier.

The South Bay report also shows that the median price of condominiums and town houses sold in December was $510,000, down a mere 2.9 percent compared with a year earlier.

By contrast, the median price of homes sold statewide dropped for much of 2007, sometimes by double digits, according to statistics from the California Association of Realtors and market tracker DataQuick Information Systems. Statewide home prices for December will be released in two weeks.

"There are areas in the South Bay that aren't so strong where we're seeing definite price decreases. But overall for a geographic area, we're doing better than the rest of the state," said Carol



ON THE WEB

Read the report at www.sbaoronline.com.

muhammed.el-hasan@dailybreeze.com