SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Bay Area's median home price dipped more than 3 percent last month to $338,000 from $350,000 in January 2010 as distress sales and bargain hunting continued to dominate the market.

San Diego-based DataQuick Information Systems said Thursday that the median in the nine-county San Francisco Bay region was also down about 10 percent from $375,000 in December.

Home sales edged up more than 2 percent from around 4,900 in January 2010 to about 5,000 last month but dropped nearly 31 percent from around 7,200 in December.

The firm says about 30 percent of last month's sales were for homes costing more than $500,000, down from a January average of more than 45 percent over the past decade.

Foreclosures accounted for about 35 percent of last month's sales.

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