We saw a nice improvement in the number of homes sold here in the Hollywood Riviera (27% more) in this last, 4th quarter of the year vs. the same quarter of 2007!  Lower interest rates may have gotten many media-scared buyers to finally realize what a great buying opportunity it really is!  Although for the year overall we saw 30% fewer homes sold (91 in 2007 and 64 in 2008), our average selling price was only down about 6% (attributed to more lower end sales and fewer higher end sales).  The average days on market nearly doubled (66 days this year vs. 39 last year).  The biggest part of the slow-down for number of homes sold occurred in the $1.2 million + price range.  There were 30 homes sold in this range in 2007 and only 21 homes sold in the higher end of the market this year.  A big factor for this was the lack of loan programs available in the jumbo market.  However, the good news there is that the average sales price of homes over $1.2 million in 2008 was $1,467,421, nearly 5% HIGHER than the $1,398,800 figure for 2007!