California's January Home Sale Pace Drops

The pace of new home sales slowed in California in January, the California Building Industry Association found. Sales in new home projects of 10 units or more were 12% below January 2009, but that's an improvement over the 15% year-over-year decline recorded in December. Builders logged 1,886 sales in 2010's first month, compared to 2,137 sales in January a year ago. But the median base price of the houses sold in January was 6% higher than a year ago. Jonathan Dienhart, director of published research for HWMI, noted the figures for January showed little in the way of improvement. "The last several months have bent the trend of improvement back toward one of volatile uncertainty," said Dienhart. "As California's broader economy still struggles with a myriad of challenges, it is unlikely we will see any dramatic recovery in coming months."