The housing slump continues in DeKalb County.

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March sales figures from the DeKalb Association of Realtors showed a sizable drop in both the number of homes sold and the average sale price, compared to the same month last year.

The number of homes sold declined by 21 percent, from 751 in March 2007 to 593 in March 2008. The average sale price in March for single family homes fell by 7.5 percent, from $228,379 in March 2007 to $211,206 in March 2008.

The average sale price for condominiums and townhomes fell even more sharply, from $153,454 in March 2007 to $132,457 in March 2008, a nearly 14 percent drop. Homes of all sizes, meanwhile, are taking about 20 percent longer to sell.

Recent figures for the metro Atlanta region showed that prices in a 28-county area slid nearly 5 percent from January 2007 to this January, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Index.

Barbara Campbell, president of the DeKalb Association of Realtors, said the numbers "indicate that we still have a sluggish housing market," though she said relatively low interest rates in the 5.75 to 6 percent range make it a good time to buy.

DeKalb's housing woes are part of a nationwide slump fueled by the subprime mortgage crisis. It's not clear how much longer the county's real estate slump will last.

But one figure supplied by DeKalb Realtors indicates a turnaround may not happen soon. The number of pending sales — transactions under contract but not yet closed — plummeted 79 percent, from 909 in March 2007 to 189 in March 2008.