July home sales three percent higher than last year

Home sales in San Diego County rose 3 percent in July, compared with the same period a year ago, and were up 3.2 percent from the previous month, according to figures released Tuesday.

The median price of an existing, single-family home in San Diego last month was $372,640, up 2.8 percent from $362,650 in June, but down 8.8 percent from $408,730 in July of last year, according to the California Association of Realtors.

Statewide, home sales increased 12 percent in July, compared with the same period a year ago, and were up 8.1 percent from the previous month, according to CAR.

The median price of a home in California in July was $285,480, up 3.9 percent from $274,740 the previous month, but down 19.6 percent from $355,000 this time last year, according to CAR.

According to Leslie Appleton-Young, CAR’s vice president and chief economist, July marked the fifth consecutive month of month-to-month increases in the median price of a California home.

“This was the largest increase on record for the month of July based on statistics dating back to 1979,’’ she said. “The yearly decline in July also was the smallest in the past 19 months.’’

The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home in California was 39.9 days in July, compared with 47.8 days for the same period a year ago, according to CAR.