A total of 17,424 new and existing single-family homes and condominium units were sold last month in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties, down from 20,166 a year earlier, La Jolla, California- based DataQuick said today in a statement. It was the lowest June sales count since at least 1988, when DataQuick statistics began.

Home sales in California, the most populous U.S. state, as in other parts of the country, are being hurt by stricter lending standards and a lack of available money for mortgages, DataQuick said. With little capital available, ``even some of the well-qualified households aren't getting home loans'' in Southern California, said DataQuick analyst John Karevoll.

"It's clearly dragging along bottom there," Karevoll said in an interview. "What I find remarkable here is that the numbers have stayed as low as they have. When we're looking at numbers this low, we're looking at an awful lot of activity that just isn't happening."

Sales of homes that had been foreclosed upon continued to rise last month. More than 41 percent of homes sold in Southern California last month were foreclosure resales, up from 39 percent in May and 7.3 percent a year earlier, according to DataQuick.

Median price fell

The median price paid for a Southern California home last month was $355,000, down 4.1 percent from $370,000 in May and 29 percent from $502,000 a year earlier, said DataQuick, a unit of Richmond, British Columbia-based MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates Ltd.

The median in Southern California has been hurt by depreciation, particularly in inland communities, and a drop-off in the availability of mortgages for more than $417,000, DataQuick said. Before credit availability plunged last August, almost 40 percent of Southern California sales were financed with so-called jumbo loans. Last month they accounted for 16 percent of sales, DataQuick said.

Prices fell in all six Southern California counties tracked by DataQuick, declining the most in San Bernardino and Riverside, which had drops of 34 percent and 31 percent respectively. The number of homes sold dropped in four counties, falling the most in Orange County, with a 27 percent decline. Home sales rose 12 percent from a year earlier in Riverside and 1.1 percent in San Bernardino.

DataQuick compiles its surveys using county records and supplies real estate information to public agencies, lenders, title companies and other customers.

Source: Bloomberg