Turnaround trends continued apace in the Bay Area housing market last month with the strongest January sales in six years and the 10th straight year-over-year increase in the median sale price, a real estate information service reported. Sales always drop from December to January. While still below the long-term January average of 6,094, last month’s sales count was the strongest since 6,168 homes were sold in 2007. 

The median price paid for a home in the nine-county Bay Area was $415,000 in January. That was down 6.3 percent from $442,750 in December, and up 27.3 percent from $326,000 in January a year ago.