East Bay home sales down more than 20% - East Bay Business Times:

East Bay home sales down more than 20% - East Bay Business Times:: "East Bay home sales down more than 20%
East Bay Business Times - 2:21 PM PST Wednesday

Home sales in Alameda and Contra Costa counties declined by more than 20 percent last month compared with October 2005, according to new figures from DataQuick Information Systems.

Sales in the overall Bay Area held steady at a five-year low in October and prices remained flat.

In Alameda County, 1,586 new and resale homes were sold in October, down from 2,187 a year ago, a change of 27.5 percent. Contra Costa County registered 1,658 home sales last month, down 21.2 percent from 2,104 in October 2005.

The nine-county Bay Area showed 7,979 houses and condos sold last month, up 0.9 percent from 7,907 in September and down 24.1 percent from 10,508 a year ago.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $614,000 last month, up 0.5 percent from September's $611,000 and unchanged from October 2005. Earlier this year, the median hovered around $630,000 before rising to a $644,000 peak in June.

The median home price in Alameda County was $578,000, down 1.2 percent from $571,000 in October 2005. Contra Costa County's median price last month was $544,000, a drop of 5.4 percent from the October 2005 median $575,000.

The typical mon"