Valley home prices steady

The Stanislaus County median home sales price remained at $135,000 in June, the same as it was in May and just a bit more than it was a year ago.

But home prices elsewhere in California keep climbing, according to just-released DataQuick statistics.

Statewide, the median price paid for a home in June was $274,000, up 8.3 percent from June 2011. Last month's median was the highest price paid in more than two years.

California's median sales price bottomed out at $221,000 in April of 2009, which was less than half what homes sold for at the peak of the housing market in early 2007 — $484,000.

Stanislaus County prices peaked at $396,000 in December 2006, then plunged steadily for two years. Median sales prices have been fluttering between $125,000 and $140,000 since early 2009.

San Joaquin County is doing a bit better.

Its median sales price was $161,000 in June, which was $3,000 more than May but only $1,000 more than a year ago.

In Tuolumne County, the median sales price was $145,000 last month, which was down $12,500 from June of 2011.