San Diego County’s median home price was $573,500 in October, lifted by a big increase in sales.

There were 3,485 home sales, up 10.1 percent compared to the same time last year, said CoreLogic data. Experts have largely attributed the turn in the market to falling interest rates.

The median price of $573,500 is an increase of 2.6 percent in a year. That is an improvement over the past few months, which showed prices flat in San Diego County. However, at the same time last year, prices were up 5.6 percent in a year.

San Diego County was not alone in this trend. In Southern California home sales were up around 8 percent, and median prices moved up slightly. The uptick in prices seemed to correlate with other indicators of a rebounding market, including a drop in the number of price reductions in San Diego County and across Southern California from earlier this year.

Interest rates for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage were 3.69 percent in October, said Freddie Mac, down from 4.83 percent at the same time last year.

While lower interest rates may have helped potential buyers, home inventory was tightening. There were 6,082 homes for sale in October, said the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors, down from 7,918 at the same time last year.

Here’s how the market fared by home type:

• Resale single-family homes: Median of $630,000, down from a peak of $649,000 in June.
  
• Resale condos: Median of $425,000, down from a peak of $440,000 in August.
  
• Newly built: Median of $626,000, down from a peak of $812,500 in October last year.

Across Southern California, San Bernardino County had the biggest increase with a median of $350,000, up 5.2 percent in a year.

It was followed by Los Angeles County with a median of $620,000, up 4.2 percent annually; Riverside County with a median of $395,000, up 3.9 percent; San Diego County with its 2.6 percent increase; and Orange County with a median of $725,000, up 0.7 percent in a year.

Source: SDuniontribune by Phillip Molnar