San Francisco Bay Area Home Prices Decline for Sixth Month, DataQuick Says

Home prices in the San Francisco Bay Area fell in March from a year earlier, the sixth straight decline, as distressed properties accounted for almost half of all purchases, according to DataQuick Information Systems Inc.

The median price paid for houses and condominiums in the nine-county region was $360,000, down 5.3 percent from $380,000 in March 2010, the San Diego-based data seller said today in a statement. Prices rose 6.7 percent from $337,250 in February.

“The Bay Area has much less of a foreclosure problem than the rest of the state, but by its own standards it’s still a sizable problem that acts as a drag on prices,” John Walsh, the company’s president, said in the statement. “The big issue continues to be mortgage financing, which is still problematic for many potential borrowers.”

Foreclosures made up about a third of transactions while short sales, where the price is less than the amount owed on the loan, accounted for almost a fifth of purchases, DataQuick said. A total of 7,051 houses and condominiums sold in the region last month, up 41 percent from February and 0.2 percent from a year earlier and the highest tally for a March in four years.

Prices declined from a year earlier in eight of the Bay Area’s nine counties, dropping the most in Solano, 12 percent, to a median $190,000. Prices fell 8 percent to $460,000 in Santa Clara, and 3.7 percent to $650,000 in San Francisco. Marin showed the only gain, 4.4 percent, to a median $668,250.

Five counties had increases in the number of sales -- Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, San Mateo and Sonoma, according to DataQuick.

The company compiles county property data that is sold to public agencies, lenders and title companies.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Levy in San Francisco at dlevy13@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kara Wetzel at kwetzel@bloomberg.net