Southern California homes sales at 14-year low

According to a report in Reuters, June home sales in southern California fell to their lowest in 14 years and the slump hit the region’s most affordable markets east of Los Angeles hardest, according to a report released on Tuesday. The report by DataQuick Information Systems said a total of 20,166 new and resale homes were sold in June in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties last month, marking a rise of 1.5 percent from the prior month and a decline of 36.2 percent from a year earlier. The region’s home sales have been declining from year-earlier levels since October 2005, raising concerns that the downward trend could cause the broad California economy to suffer.