Southern California's housing market continued to contract in August as Los Angeles' home price appreciation shrunk to its lowest level in six years while San Diego's retreated deeper into negative territory, data showed on Wednesday.

According to data released by DataQuick Information Systems, a research firm based in Los Angeles, fewer buyers entered the market in August, eroding sales to levels not seen in nearly a decade.

In Los Angeles, 9,193 homes were sold last month, the fewest since August 1997 and the number represented a 21-percent drop from the previous year's volumes. August was the ninth straight month of plunging year-over-year sales rates.

The median home price for August in Los Angeles rose 4.7 percent over the same month last year to 517,000 U.S. dollars. That was the slowest rate of appreciation since the housing boom began six years ago and was below the county's historical average growth rate of 7 percent, according to DataQuick.

Meanwhile, prices seem to have ceased rising on a month-to-month basis. August's median of 517,000 dollars was virtually flat compared with June's and July's.

San Diego saw its year-over-year median price fall 2.2 percent to 482,000 dollars, which was the lowest since March 2005, when the median was 484,000 dollars. It was the biggest percentage decline since December 1995.

"It's pretty clear that a price correction is underway in San Diego," said DataQuick analyst Andrew LePage. "Given the trend, it's possible that Los Angeles could be at zero appreciation, or a little above or a little below, by the end of the year or maybe sooner."

Source: Xinhua