While national sales figures for previously-owned homes dropped 2.7 percent from July to August, the numbers for the Golden State — typically considered a barometer for other housing markets — receded even further. Accordingto data just released by the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.), sales of existing-homes in the state fell 5.1 percent in August compared to the previous month. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, warned that the industry should be careful not to take a housing rebound for granted, when the national numbers were released last week amid a swell of disappointment. And while California’s month-to-month drop may have reined in recent high-flying optimism, the numbers still represent a considerable improvement over last summer’s conditions. Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family homes in California reached an annualized rate of 526,970 in August, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local Realtor associations statewide. Home resale activity increased 9 percent from the revised 483,400 sales pace recorded in August 2008. Leslie Appleton-Young, C.A.R.‘s VP and chief economist, put the numbers into perspective. “Sales have exceeded 500,000 homes for 12 consecutive months, and now are 38 percent higher on a year-to-date basis compared with 2008,” Appleton-Young said, adding that the large number of distressed properties on the market continues to boost sales.

The statewide median price for previously-owned homes rose for the sixth consecutive month in August, coming in at $292,960 — a 2.6 percent increase over July’s $285,480 median price. “Recent price gains are consistent with the low inventory levels of the past few months,” Appleton-Young said. “Levels of distressed properties remain high, but have declined compared with earlier in the year, and are one reason why inventory levels are running below the state’s long-run average of 7.2 months.” Based on C.A.R.‘s market data, California’s inventory of existing, single-family homes in August was 4.3 months. The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 35.2 days in August, compared with 47.6 days for the same period a year ago.