Mark's Notebook


	Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. - Proverbs 16:8

Housing market dips a bit

San Francisco Chronicle

Wednesday 17 August 2005, 11:13 am
Keywords: News Articles

by Kelly Zito, Chronicle Staff Writer

The torrid Bay Area housing market hit the pause button in July, with sales falling nearly 11 percent and prices dipping below record territory for the first time this year, a real estate information firm reported Tuesday.

The median price for a single-family home in the nine counties last month was $643,000, nearly 18 percent above the year-ago median, but just shy of the June peak of $644,000, according to DataQuick in La Jolla.

The number of properties that changed hands in July dropped 11.9 percent from June and 10.8 percent from July 2004.

For the last few years, economists have fretted that the Bay Area and other high-priced housing markets represent bubbles on the verge of popping -- in the worst-case scenario -- or at least leaking some air.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/08/17/HOMES.TMP