California home prices cool, but San Francisco still hot

IRVINE, Calif. -- A research firm says California home prices cooled last month as lack of affordability and inventory kept potential buyers on the sidelines.

CoreLogic DataQuick said Tuesday that the median sales price for new and existing houses and condominiums was $381,000 in November, barely changed from 382,000 in October and up 6 percent from $360,000 a year earlier. It's the lowest annual percentage increase since March 2012.

Sales were down 12 percent from a year earlier to nearly 30,000 homes. It is the lowest November sales tally in seven years.

Southern California's median price was $412,000, little changed from October but up 7 percent from $385,000 a year earlier.

The San Francisco Bay area's median sales price was $601,000, unchanged from October but up 9 percent from $550,000 in November 2013.

Home prices grew at their slowest pace for 2.5 years and sales dipped almost 10 percent.

San Francisco County remains immune to the downturn as prices shot up just over 27 percent to a median home price of more than $1 million.

ABC7 News contributed to this report.