Western home sales up 16 percent in April, report says

LOS ANGELES — Investors and first-time buyers, often bidding against each other for foreclosed properties, continue to propel home sales in the West, according to two reports released Wednesday.

In the 13-state region, sales of previously occupied homes posted an annual increase of 16 percent last month, without adjusting for seasonal factors. Nationally, sales rose slightly from March to April, but were roughly 5 percent below year-ago levels, the National Association of Realtors reported.

The reason sales are so strong in the West is simple: foreclosures and distressed sales have dragged the median price down almost 22 percent to $222,600 from last year. That's the biggest drop in any region and helped pull the national median down more than 15 percent to $170,200.

The worst-hit Western cities include Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles, where prices were down more than 35 percent, according to the Associated Press-Re/Max Monthly Housing Report also released Wednesday. The report tallies all home sales in the metropolitan statistical area, regardless of company affiliation.

Floyd Scott, broker-owner of Century 21 Arizona-Foothills in Phoenix, said roughly 70 percent of the sales he's seeing are distressed. Original Article