S.F. Bay Area sales soar over ’07 lows

Home sales in the San Francisco Bay Area rose 45 percent in September compared to the record low posted in September 2007 -- the gain was the highest in six years, real estate data company MDA DataQuick reported. The median price of new and resale homes and condos in the nine-county Bay Area region dove 36 percent. Sales more than doubled in Solano County in September compared to the same month last year, rising from 321 to 646, while the median price fell 35.7 percent. It was the largest year-over-year sales gain for the region. "Now it's just a question of whether it will stay on track and provide stable prices and fading foreclosures in 2009, or will it get derailed by an economic crisis," said John Walsh, company president, in a statement. Two counties, Santa Clara and San Francisco, experienced sales drops of less than 5 percent in September compared to the same month last year, while all of the other seven counties in the region reported sales gained. The l...