"The median price of a home in California topped $400,000 for the second time in 2003, hitting a record $404,520 last month," said the association's president, Ann Pettijohn. "Demand for homes continued unabated, propelled by mortgage rates that remained below 6 percent and an extremely low inventory of homes for sale."

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled 637,080 in December at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, according to information collected by the California Association of Realtors from more than 90 local associations statewide. Statewide home resale activity increased 11 percent from the 573,790 sales pace recorded in December 2002.

The statewide sales figure represents what the total number of homes sold during 2003 would be if sales maintained the December pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.

The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during December 2003 was $404,520, a 19.4 percent increase over the revised $338,840 median for December 2002, the association reported. The December 2003 median price increased 5.1 percent compared to a revised $384,930 median price in November.

"Overall, year-to-date sales increased 5.1 percent compared to the same period a year ago," said Leslie Appleton-Young, California Association of Realtors vice president and chief economist. "Nearly every region in the state posted double-digit increases in the median price, with the Riverside/San Bernardino region reporting a gain of more than 32 percent."

Thirty-year fixed mortgage interest rates averaged 5.88 percent during December 2003, down from 6.05 percent in December 2002, according to Freddie Mac. Adjustable mortgage interest rates averaged 3.75 percent in December 2003 compared to 4.12 percent in December 2002.

The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 27 days in December 2003, compared to 28 days (revised) for the same period a year ago.

In a separate report covering more localized statistics generated by C.A.R. and DataQuick Information Systems, 93.7 percent or 371 of 396 cities and communities showed an increase in their respective median home prices from a year ago. The Los Gatos median home price increased from $629,000 in December 2002 to $775,000 in 2003, while Saratoga's median price decreased from $1,020,000 in 2002 to $870,000 in December 2003. However, Saratoga still made the list of the top 10 median home prices for this report.

Statewide, the 10 cities and communities with the highest median home prices in California during December 2003 were: Malibu, $1,178,750; Los Altos, $1,165,000; Manhattan Beach, $1,100,000; Palos Verdes Estates, $1,065,000; Beverly Hills, $1,062,000; Burlingame, $1,030,000; Calabasas, $936,000; Laguna Beach, $927,500; Newport Beach, $925,000; Saratoga, $870,000.

Information provided in this column is presented by the Realtor members of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors at www.silvar.org. Send questions on any topic to jnewton@jnpr.com.