Sales Spike in September: The number crunchers at Data Quick…

The number crunchers at Data Quick have released stats for September: "Southern California home sales shot up by an unprecedented 65 percent last month from the dismal, record lows of a year ago, when a credit crunch slammed the brakes on home financing. September sales also posted a rare gain over August as price cuts lured more buyers. Foreclosure resales rose to half of all transactions." Some more context on the numbers: Yes, the reason for the high year-over gain is that the credit crunch started in roughly September 2007, and these sales represent escrow closings, meaning that deals went down in mid-summer, before the economy started worsening. As John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president, says: "Over the next few weeks our sales data will begin to show how the meltdown in financial markets this fall has impacted housing demand." Click through for the whole press release. [Data Quick]For more stories from Curbed LA, go to la.curbed.com.