Homebuyers' appetite for deeply discounted foreclosures remained voracious in March, driving up sales and offering signs to some analysts that a price bottom could be in the offing.

Sales were 41 percent higher last month than March 2008, with 684 houses sold in North San Diego County, according to the North San Diego County Association of Realtors. The median price dropped 26 percent during that time to $364,000 -- steep, for sure, but not nearly as precipitous as the 39 percent year-over-year decline in November 2008.

In Southwest Riverside County, the story has been the same, with a monthly increase in sales from the previous year for more than a year now. In Lake Elsinore, for example, there were 153 home sales last month, according to Redfin, a real estate listing site. A different real estate site, Multi-Regional Multiple Listing Service, reported 93 house sales for the month in the boom year of 2005.

"I'm seeing signs that we're stabilizing," said Shawn Harris, a mortgage broker in Encinitas. "I've had three purchase transactions this month where we have not been able to get an appraised value. We're paying more than what the appraisal comes in at. That's usually a sign that we're close or have hit bottom."

However, foreclosure numbers hit a new peak in February, and March's numbers are not expected to fall -- a stark counterbalance to any positive effect the recent sales boom might have on prices.

And the numbers are so big that they practically negate the rocketing sales. That is, between one and two houses enter foreclosure for each sold house in North County and Southwest Riverside County, according to data from ForeclosureRadar, a foreclosure listing service, and Redfin.

Further muddying the picture are spiking unemployment numbers, because lost jobs typically cause more foreclosures and fewer eligible buyers.

While North San Diego County's overall median price has shown signs of stabilization over the past few months, the median price per square foot keeps falling, suggesting that buyers have snatched bigger homes and that prices might have more room to decline.

Also, market conditions vary widely among neighborhoods. The housing recession that has wiped out 41 percent of home values, on average, from a 2005 peak has been much kinder to the coastal markets.

For oceanfront property, several listings have continued to sell close to, or even higher than, "bubble prices" set in 2005. Without big price declines, this upper crust of North San Diego County real estate has not enjoyed the rush in sales seen in foreclosure clusters along Highway 78, where discount is rampant.

Contact staff writer Zach Fox at (760) 740-5412 or zfox@nctimes.com. Read his blog, "On the Realside," at bizblogs.nctimes.com.