Bay Area median home price surges off March 2009 low

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The median price paid for a Bay Area home surged 30% in March compared with the same month last year, according to data released Thursday, reflecting a bounce back from the low hit during the depths of the financial crisis.

But homes sold at a below-average pace for a March, according to San Diego research firm MDA DataQuick. And analysts warned the apparent jump in home prices last month had more to do with the change in the kinds of homes sold -- with fewer foreclosures in the mix and more properties selling in higher priced coastal areas -- than the actual valuations of properties rising.

“While March’s big annual gain in the regional median tells us a lot about what’s changed in the market, it shouldn’t be viewed as evidence of surging home values,” MDA DataQuick President John Walsh said. “It’s a statistical quirk. A variety of data indicate prices in many communities have more or less flattened out or risen modestly, while they remain soft in others.”

Buyers paid a median $380,000 for all new and previously occupied houses and condominiums, a 7.3% increase from $354,000 in February and up 31% from $290,000 in March 2009, when the median hit bottom.

A total of 6,992 homes sold last month, up 10.5% from the 6,325 sold in March 2009, but 22.4% off the historic average.

-- Alejandro Lazo