Home prices went down 35 percent last December in Southern California, one of the regions having the highest home prices in the nation, a real estate research firm said on Monday.

The December median sales price fell to US$278,000 closing the year of 2008 at 2003 price levels, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick.

The firm attributed the falling prices to more sales of foreclosed properties, which comprised 56 percent of all homes sold in the region.

In Los Angeles County, the largest county in the nation, the median price in December was US$320,00, down 32 percent from corresponding period in 2007, said DataQuick.

Low prices drove the number of Southern California homes sold in December up by 51 percent over the previous year, the firm said.

"It does look like the spigot is being opened a little bit, at least for low-cost home purchases," said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president.

(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2009)