Riverside County, Calif., median home price jumps 36.4 percent.

By Leslie Berkman, The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Jan. 19--Spurred by new move-up homes hitting the market, Riverside County's median home price in December soared to a new high of $371,000 in December. That was 36.4 percent more than a year earlier and $25,000 more than in November.

Also San Bernardino County saw its median home price reach a new record $281,000, rising nearly 31 percent in a year.

John Karevoll, an analyst with DataQuick Information Systems, said a record 2,370 new homes sold in Riverside County in December, which was 14 percent more than closed escrow in December 2003.

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