Home prices in California fell a record 40.3% between July 2007 and last month, but sales surged 43.4% - proving that people are taking advantage of bargain prices, the California Association of Realtors noted.

Even more interesting is how areas with the deepest price drops have the biggest boost in sales. Take Riverside/San Bernardino: Sales soared 176.5%. Of course, the median price in that area fell by more than a third over the last 12 months to $265,750.

Two areas, Merced and Stockton, have seen prices fall like a hammer. The median price in July in Stockton was $160,000, a 50% drop from a year prior. In Merced, it was $154,500, a decrease of 43.8%, according to DataQuick Information Systems..
Be advised: those prices are a snapshot in time, and are subject to fluctuation based on size of house sold and volume of sales.