Home prices plummet

Real estate: Figure falls 40 percent in January, but bargains spur sales.Gregory J;.Wilcox in the Daily News.

With foreclosed homes diluting the real-estate market, Southern California housing prices continued to slide in January but made huge gains in sales, a market tracker said Thursday.

The median price plunged 40 percent across the six-county region to $250,000, said MDA DataQuick. Sales of new and previously owned houses and condominiums increased 52.5 percent to 15,277 transactions.

The median price - the point where half of the homes sell for more and half for less - has tumbled from its year-ago level for 19 consecutive months.