San Francisco Home Sales Top Last Year

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Bay Area home sales rose above a year ago for the fifth consecutive month in January. Home buying remained slow in pricier coastal markets but was robust in many inland areas where steep price declines have boosted affordability and, in some cases, driven sales of existing houses to record levels.

The role of foreclosures in the housing market continued to grow, representing 54% of the Bay Area homes that resold last month, according to MDA DataQuick.The San Diego-based firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

A total of 5,050 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the nine-county Bay Area last month. That was down 26.7% from 6,889 in December but up 40.8% from 3,586 in January 2008.

Last month's sales were the third-lowest for a January since 1988, when DataQuick's statistics begin, and 20% below the average for the month. January sales have ranged from a low of 3,586 in 2008 to a high of 8,298 in 2005.

Discounted foreclosures have helped fuel the surge in inland resale activity. They've also made it far more difficult for builders to compete with resale prices, helping to explain why sales of newly built homes fell last month to the lowest point for a January since at least 1988, when DataQuick's statistics begin.

Conversely, resales of single-family detached houses hit record levels last month in San Pablo, Richmond, Pittsburg, Antioch, Oakley, Fairfield and San Pablo - areas that have attracted bargain hunters with their relatively large price drops and abundant foreclosures.