Home Values Plunge

Sue McCallister writes:

In a season of stunning financial news comes more drama from the local housing front: The median house price in Santa Clara County plunged 26 percent last month compared with a year earlier, the county's steepest decline on record.
Houses sold in August went for a median price of $592,750, down from a hefty $805,000 in August 2007.
The last time Santa Clara County houses sold for a median price less than $600,000 was in September 2004, when the figure was $595,000. The August 2007 median price reflects a period in which primarily expensive homes were selling, because low-money-down loans for first-time buyers were suddenly unavailable. That drove the median price up, even as home values in some parts of the valley were falling.
But by this summer, it was mostly lower-priced homes that were selling. In August 2007, just under 2 percent of sales were past foreclosures.
Last month, 330 condos and townhouses sold in the county, down 25.2 percent from August 2007.
In San Mateo County, the median house price in August was $672,500, down 23 percent from a year earlier. In Alameda County, the median price of single-family houses sold was $463,500, down 29.8 percent.
Contra Costa County's median price for houses fell a staggering 48.4 percent since August 2007, to $315,000. In that county, however, bargain hunters were busy: Sales of houses rose 70 percent from last year, from 788 in August 2007 to 1,339 houses sold last month.