The median price of an existing home in the Los Angeles region rose sharply in December from the year-earlier period but dipped from November as homes sales continued to decline across the region, the California Association of Realtors reported Wednesday.

December’s median price of $552,760 was 19.3 percent higher than December 2004’s $463,450 but 3.9 percent lower than November’s $575,310. Sales of median-priced homes in the L.A. area fell 15.8 percent from the year prior and 4.7 percent from November, the association said.

Statewide, the median price of an existing home jumped 15.6 percent from a year earlier and slipped less than a half percent from November’s $548,680, to $548,430. Sales plunged 17.6 percent from December 2004 and 8.2 percent from November.

In Orange and San Diego counties, home sales also dropped. In Orange County the median price of $702,290 was 12 percent higher than a year ago, but sales were down 22.9 percent over a year earlier and 4.1 percent from November. San Diego County’s $603,680 was 4.6 percent above December 2004, while sales dipped 21.3 percent from a year ago and 2.6 percent from two months ago.

The average number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 44 days in December, compared with 40 days for the same period a year ago, the association reported.

“Consumers also were rattled by both the spike in energy costs and the hurricanes late last year,” said association President Vince Malt in a statement. “Looking ahead, we expect those concerns to impact transactions completed in January as well.”

Two of the top 10 cities with the highest median home prices in California during December were in L.A. County: Calabasas, $1,295,000 (No. 2); and Rancho Palos Verdes, $1,020,000 (No. 5).