The subprime-mortgage mess is hurting the real estate market nationwide, according to a report today from the National Association of Realtors.Existing-home sales in April fell 2.6 percent from the month before to a seasonally adjusted yearly rate of 5.99 million, the Realtors group reported. That level is down 10.7 percent from April 2006.

“We’ve been anticipating slower home sales because many subprime loan products are no longer available,” Lawrence Yun, the group’s senior economist, said in a statement. “In addition, increased scrutiny by lenders is stopping risky mortgage origination, which is good for both consumers and the lending community.”

The median price for all homes nationwide (half sell for more; half sell for less) was $220,900 (LOL!), down 0.8 percent from a year earlier.

Here in the Golden State, meanwhile, the number of home sales dropped 27.8 percent in April compared with a year earlier, the California Association of Realtors reported. The median price of a single-family home, though, was $597,640, up 6.2 percent from a year ago.

“Although the median price of a home in California continues to rise, this reflects the fall-off in sales in the lower-priced markets of the state where new-home inventories and foreclosures are competing with the existing-home market,” Leslie Appleton-Young, the state Realtors’ chief economist, said in a statement.

“Fewer sales from these regions coupled with modest gains in some of the stronger coastal markets are pushing the median price for the state up slightly,” she said.

Those stronger coastal markets include some of the more expensive communities here in Silicon Valley. In fact, three valley cities are among the 10 in California with the highest median home prices: Los Altos, at $1.71 million; Saratoga, at $1.55 million; and Los Gatos, at $1.2 million. The Realtors group bases its numbers on sales of homes on local multiple-listing services.

Source:

http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_5987973?nclick_check=1