Most South Bay communities saw the price of homes rise in February compared with a year ago, a reverse from January's figures, which were mostly down.

Torrance's median price for all homes -- new and existing -- sold in February was $569,500, up 4.1 percent compared with February 2006, according to a report released Friday by the Los Angeles-based California Association of Realtors.

Carson saw the South Bay's largest year-over-year increase in new and existing home prices, a 10-percent rise to $542,500.

The median price refers to the middle figure where half of homes sold for more and half for less. Monthly figures can fluctuate wildly depending on the number of homes sold at a price atypical of the general community.

The South Bay generally followed February's statewide trend. The median price of California's existing, single-family detached homes increased by 5.7 percent to $564,700, CAR said.

The rise came despite a drop of 9.6 percent in home resale activity for February, compared with a year earlier.

While nearly in double digits, the statewide sales drop was the lowest year-to-year decline in 14 months, CAR said.

"Next month's report could tell a different story since sales last year peaked in March," CAR president Colleen Badagliacco said in a prepared statement. "Looking forward, we are likely to see smaller year-to-year declines as we enter the traditional buying season."

As of February, it took a median of 70 days to sell an existing single-family home, up from 53 days twelve months earlier, CAR said.

Continued demand for homes, scarcity of vacant apartments and relatively low interest rates helped push prices up, said Delores Conway, director of USC's Casden Real Estate Economics Forecast.

"There's still lots of people moving to Los Angeles who need a place to live," Conway said.

Turbulence from the sub-prime real estate market is starting to be felt in Southern California, but mostly in areas of the Inland Empire, which saw more home construction than in other areas, Conway said.

The uptick in foreclosures for these riskier mortgages could eventually be felt in Los Angeles, she said.

"I'm sure we'll see it here, too," Conway said. "We are watching it closely as it unfolds."

Despite CAR's reported year-over-year price increases in most South Bay communities, it is still a buyer's market now, Manhattan Beach Realtor Adolph James said. He said the South Bay housing market likely peaked in July or August of 2006.

"Today, when you bring a buyer to a property, they'll look at a property and say what else do you have?" said James, of Shorewood Realtors. "In the past, I'd show them three or four more homes and they'd make a decision. Now they want to see 15."

Manhattan Beach was one of only two South Bay communities cited in the CAR report to see a decline in median home prices for all homes in February. Nonetheless, the beach city had the state's highest recorded median price at $1,880,000.