A strong showing in December helped Connecticut’s single-family housing market level off from 2008, with year-over-year single-family home sales down only 1.9 percent in 2009. But the median home price fell 10.1 percent from 2008, and condo sales slid sharply compared to 2008, according to the Warren Group, publisher of The Commercial Record. A total of 24,401 single-family homes were sold in 2009, down from 24,863 in 2008. The total was boosted by a strong December, with single-family home sales rising 34.8 percent to 2,216 from 1,644 in December 2008. It was the strongest sales pace for the month of December since 2006. The median price for a single-family home in Connecticut retreated 10.1 percent to $240,500 in 2009 from $267,500 in 2008. December’s median home price rose 3.6 percent to $238,250 from $230,000 in December 2008. It was the first increase in monthly median home prices year over year since November 2007.

Existing-home sales rose 31 percent at year’s end in 2009, with a total of 163,148 homes sold statewide compared to 124,168 homes sold at year end 2008, according to Florida Realtors. Existing-home sales activity at the end of 2009 also was 25.6 percent higher than the 2007 statewide sales level, records show. Seventeen of Florida’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) reported increased existing-home sales, while 18 MSAs had higher condo sales through the period. A majority of the state’s MSAs have reported increased sales for 18 consecutive months. Florida’s median sales price for existing homes at year end 2009 was $142,600; a year earlier, it was $187,700, for a 24 percent decrease. The national median existing single-family home price was $171,900 in November, down 4.4 percent from a year before, according to the National Association of Realtors. NAR housing industry analysts note that sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties continue to downwardly distort the median price because they generally sell at a discount relative to traditional homes.

Good news from Michigan: Detroit led all Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) with a 14.6 percent quarterly gain in January, according to the Home Data Index from Clear Capital. The jump follows a 14.1 percent increase in November 2009 and 17.4 percent rise in December.

So Cal’s coastal region: Don’t call it a comeback

The new-home market is starting to come back in the Southern California coastal region as buyers realize low prices and low interest rates, especially in areas close to employment centers, will not last forever, says Steve Johnson, director of Metrostudy’s Southern California division. The region includes Ventura, Orange and Los Angeles counties.