Sales of existing single-family homes in the Bakersfield area declined 13.6 percent from 2009 to 2010, but the median sale price rose 3.9 percent to $135,000.
That’s according to The Crabtree Report’s annual analysis of the local housing market, prepared by Affiliated Appraisers.
Existing home prices were down 27 percent from two years ago.
New home sales dropped 24.7 percent from 2009 to 2010, when the median new home price was $205,000.
“There are no market forces driving the recovery. We’re still just bouncing along the bottom,” the report’s author, Gary Crabtree, said Tuesday.
He anticipates more of the same this year, barring a turnaround in the county’s 15.4 percent unemployment rate.
“State Farm is coming.