There was little change in the southern California home market in September, continuing the cooling down of the housing market in the area. John Walsh, the president of DataQuick, described it as “a fairly normal downshifting in the housing market.” He attributed it to “the rise in inventory, higher mortgage rates and the ongoing, gradual drop in purchases by investors and cash buyers.” Earlier in the year, heavy demand sent prices up.

The median sale price of a home in southern California dropped from $385,000 to $382,000. Nevertheless, home prices are still up 21.3% over last year.