As the next victim in the housing market's fall in the US, SoCal is being hit hard, with a drop in property values by some 13 per cent in December over the previous year.
SoCal, or South California is known for its opulence and highly desirable properties. The area includes six counties including Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and San Diego. Property values here have traditionally been the highest in the country side by side with New York City and Miami.
The average median price for a piece of property in Southern California hit $425,000 in December. The last time property values dropped this much was in February of 2005 when the average price was $400,000. This information comes from a real estate research firm called DataQuick Information Systems.
Housing prices dropped from November to the December by some 2.4 per cent down from $435,000 in November.
Here, property is struggling to be sold. Just 13,240 houses were purchased during the month, which is a 45 per cent drop over the previous December home sales.
Southern California is known for its high priced homes, but due to the drop in housing values and the subprime lending problems within the US currently, experts believe the problems will only get worse.
