An estimated 32,669 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That was down 1.5 percent from 33,176 in September, and down 20.9 percent from 41,280 for October 2009. California sales for the month of October have varied from a low of 25,832 in 2007 to a high of 70,152 in 2003, while the average is 43,938.
The median price paid for a home last month was $256,000, down 3.4 percent from $265,000 in September, and down 0.4 percent from $257,000 for October a year ago. The year-over-year decrease was the first in 12 months. The bottom of the current cycle was $221,000 in April 2009, while the peak was at $484,000 in early 2007.
Of the existing homes sold last month, 37.1 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. That was up from a revised 35.6 percent in September and down from 40.9 percent in October a year ago. The all-time high was in February 2009 at 58.5 percent.
The typical mortgage payment that home buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,005. That was down from $1,055 in September, and down from $1,097 in October 2009. Adjusted for inflation, last month's mortgage payment was 53.5 percent below the spring 1989 peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 62.3 percent below the current cycle's peak in June 2006.