Orange County home pricing took an unexpected turn up in June, as homebuyers paid a median selling price of $445,000 — highest for the year (and since September) and back to the year-ago level.

By DataQuick’s math, home selling prices have risen 9% in 2011.

Those June shoppers were a small flock, though: 2,947 deals for Orange County residences completed — down 14% in a year and the slowest June in 3 years.

A year ago, shoppers rushed to complete deals to meet deadlines for homebuying tax breaks — a factor that may have skewed this spring home sales statistics.

However, it’s worth noting that Orange County builders sold 323 newly constructed residences in June — up 2.3% in a year and the best-selling month since December 2007.

Other highlights …

• $445,000 median selling price for June compares to $425,000 the previous month.
• June’s price is 31% below June 2007′s peak of $645,000.
• Current price is 1.1% below 2010′s peak (May and July) of $450,000.
• The most recent median is 20% above the cyclical low hit in January 2009 at $370,000 — so the median has recouped 27% of the $275,000 price drop from the peak.
• Compared to cyclical low, single-family house median is 21% higher ($418,250 in January 2009); condo median is 6% higher ($252,000 in March 2009.) Builder prices for new homes are 39% above June 2009′s $424,000 bottom.
• The median selling price of a single-family home is 31% less than their peak pricing (June ’07). Condos sell 43% below their peak in March 2006. Builder prices for new homes are 32% below their February ’05 top.
• Single-family homes were 89% more expensive than condos in this period vs. 73% a year ago. From 1988-2010, the average house/condo gap was 57%.
• Builder’s new homes sales were 11% of all residences sold in the period vs. 9% a year ago. That’s builders’ biggest share of Orange County home purchases since March 2008. Note: From 1988-2010, builders did 14% of the Orange County homeselling.

Here’s the breakdown of recent activity by key category; included is how the latest results compare to the average monthly sales pace from 1988 through 2010:

Slice	Price	Price vs. year ago	Sales	Sales vs. year ago	Sales vs. ’88-’10 avg.
Houses	$505,000	-2.9%	1,791	-16.2%	-20.7%
Condos	$267,250	-10.9%	833	-14.3%	-3.3%
New	$591,000	+1.5%	323	+2.3%	-38.6%
All O.C.	$445,000	+0.0%	2,947	-13.9%	-19.2%