According to California Association of Realtors, the median price of an existing home in California in January increased 20.7% and sales increased 5.3% as compared to the same period a year ago.
The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during January 2004 was $405,720, a 20.7 percent increase over the revised $336,210 median for January 2003, C.A.R. reported. The January 2004 median price increased 0.5 percent compared to a revised $403,570 median price in December.

At the national level, Existing-home sales nationwide increased 2 percent in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.04 million units compared to 5.92 million units for the same period a year earlier, NAR reported today.

The national median existing-home price was $168,700 in January, up 5.4 percent from January 2003 when the median price was $160,000. Housing inventory levels declined 4.3 percent at the end of January with 2.20 million existing homes available for sale, representing a 4.4-month supply at the current sales pace, according to the report.