The median sales price for new and existing homes, including condominiums, was $156,000 in March. That's $250 less than it was in March of 2011.

Home sales spiked by 20% between February and March - a normal, seasonal increase. But year-over-year sales in March were down by nearly 4%.

Andrew LePage is with DataQuick, the San Diego-based firm that put out the numbers.

"The year-over-year decline may be, at least in part, the result of a fairly thin inventory of homes for sale in many parts of the region. There may be buyers but at the moment there may not be enough sellers to meet that demand. It's not clear to me how much of that explains the 3.9% drop."

LePage says about 43% of existing home sales last month were for properties in foreclosure during the previous year. A year ago it was 55%.

LePage says that indicates the market is blowing through it's inventory of foreclosed homes.