Home sales double in California

Sales of resale single-family homes in California more than doubled in the past year -- rising 117 percent in October 2008 compared to the same month last year -- the statewide Realtors trade group reported today, while the statewide median price plummeted about 40 percent. The sales surge was largely a product of "extremely large increases" in sales in areas with a "high concentration of distressed sales," said James Liptak, California Association of Realtors president, such as short sales, sales of bank-owned properties, and sales of properties in a foreclosure process. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of statewide sales reached 552,750 in October -- up from a pace of 254,650 sales in October 2007. This sales rate is a projection of a monthly sales total over a 12-month period, adjusted to account for typical seasonal fluctuations in sales. "Most October sales likely opened escrow prior to the beginning of the ongoing freeze in the financial mar...