February California Home Sales Press Release

California February Home Sales

March 18, 2015

An estimated 25,585 new and existing houses and condos sold in California in February 2015. That was up 1.0 percent month over month from 25,325 sales in January 2015 and down 0.4 percent year over year from 25,680 sales in February 2014.

February home sales have varied from a low of 20,513 sales in 2008 to a high of 48,409 sales in 2004. The February 2015 sales were the lowest for that month since 2008, and they were 18.7 percent lower than the February average of 31,454 sales since 1988, when CoreLogic DataQuick data began.

The median price paid for a home in California in February 2015 was $378,000, up 0.5 percent month over month from $376,000 in January 2015 and up 6.5 percent year over year from $355,000 in February 2014.

February 2015 marked the 36th consecutive month in which the state's median sale price increased on a year-over-year basis. The peak year-over-year price gain during that period was 29.2 percent in July 2013. Since then price gains have trended lower and since July 2014 the year-over-year increases have been single-digit – between about 6 percent and 7 percent from October 2014 through February 2015.

The February 2015 median sale price was 21.9 percent lower than California’s peak median price of $484,000, reached in March/April/May 2007.

Of the existing homes sold statewide in February 2015, 6.8 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the previous 12 months. That was up from a revised 6.7 percent in January 2015 and down from 8.0 percent in February 2014. Statewide foreclosure resales peaked at 58.8 percent in February 2009.

Short sales made up an estimated 6.2 percent of homes that resold in February 2015, down slightly month over month from 6.7 percent in January 2015 and down year over year from 9.0 percent in February 2014. Short sales are transactions in which the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property.

The typical monthly mortgage payment for California homebuyers in February 2015 was $1,394, up from $1,379 in January 2015 and down from $1,405 in February 2014. Adjusted for inflation, the February 2015 typical payment was 39.7 percent below the typical payment in the spring of 1989, which was the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 51.1 percent below the current cycle's peak in June 2006 and 51.2 percent above the January 2012 trough of the current cycle.

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick; DQNews.com

Copyright 2015 CoreLogic. All rights reserved.

February Bay Area Home Sales Press Release

Bay Area February Home Sales Decline; Smaller Gain for Median Sale Price

March 18, 2015

CoreLogic® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider, today released its February 2015 San Francisco Bay Area housing market report. The number of homes sold was slightly lower than in January and was the lowest for the month of February in seven years. The median price paid for a home also fell slightly from January and the gain from a year earlier was the smallest since the median sale price began rising on a year-over-year basis nearly three years ago.

A total of 4,376 new and existing houses and condos sold in the nine-county Bay Area in February 2015. That was down 1.1 percent month over month from 4,423 sales in January 2015 and down 10.9 percent year over year from 4,911 sales in February 2014, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.

February 2015 sales were the lowest for that month since February 2008, when 3,989 homes sold. The peak for February home sales was in 2002, when 8,901 homes sold. The February 2015 sales tally was 28.6 percent below the historical February average of 6,129 sales.

The median price paid for a home in the Bay Area was $565,000 in February 2015. That was down 1.2 percent month over month from $572,000 in January 2014 and up 4.6 percent year over year from $540,000 in February 2014.

The region's median sale price has risen year over year for 35 straight months, beginning in April 2012. During the 25 months between June 2012 and June 2014, those gains were double-digit, reaching as high as 33.5 percent. The annual gains were either single-digit or low double-digit between July 2014 and October 2014, and since November 2014 the year-over-year increases in the median sale price have been single-digit. The February 2015 median sale price’s 4.6 percent year-over-year gain compared with February 2014 marked the smallest annual increase for any month since the median price began rising year over year in April 2012. In comparison, the February 2014 median sale price rose 33.3 percent from February 2013.

The Bay Area median sale price peaked at $665,000 in June and July 2007 and dropped to a post-boom low of $290,000 in March 2009.

“February is always a bit odd from a numbers standpoint. March should provide a better view of emerging trends this year,” said Andrew LePage, CoreLogic DataQuick data analyst. “That said, it is easy to see that supply is still constrained. It’s also clear the mortgage market remains off-kilter. Home loans are readily available for those who have good credit, a W-2 income and who are applying for a government-backed mortgage. But it can still be challenging for others, such as the self-employed and retired, even for those with a high income or significant assets, or both.”

Other February 2015 Bay Area housing market highlights include the following:

•Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), an indicator of mortgage availability, accounted for 20.5 percent of the Bay Area’s home purchase loans in January, down from a revised 22.0 percent in December 2014, and down from 25.1 percent in January 2014. ARMs hit a low of 3.0 percent of purchase loans in January 2009 and reached a post-housing-bust peak of 27.8 percent in April 2014. Since 2000, ARMs have accounted for about 46 percent of all Bay Area purchase loans.

•Foreclosure resales accounted for 4.5 percent of all resales in February, up from a revised 4.4 percent in January 2015 and down from 5.0 percent in February 2014. Foreclosure resales in the Bay Area peaked at 52.0 percent in February 2009, while the monthly average over the past 17 years is about 10 percent. Foreclosure resales are purchased homes that have been previously foreclosed upon in the prior 12 months.

•Short sales accounted for an estimated 4.8 percent of Bay Area resales in February, down from a revised 5.2 percent in January 2015 and down from 6.3 percent in February 2014. Short sales are transactions in which the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property.

•Absentee buyers – mostly investors – purchased 24.8 percent of all Bay Area homes sold in February, up from a revised 23.8 percent in January 2015 and up from 23.8 percent in February 2014. The peak absentee share was 28.7 percent in February 2013, and the monthly average since 2000, when CoreLogic DataQuick absentee data began, is about 17 percent.

•Cash buyers accounted for 26.7 percent of home sales in February, up from a revised 23.6 percent in January 2015 and down from 28.4 percent in February 2014. The peak was 32.3 percent in February 2013, and the monthly average since 1988 is about 14 percent.

•The typical monthly mortgage payment for Bay Area home buyers in February 2015 was $2,083. Adjusted for inflation, that payment was 26.9 percent below the typical payment in spring 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 46.0 percent below the current cycle's peak in July 2007 and 65.5 percent above the February 2012 bottom of the current cycle.
Because of late data availability, sales were estimated in San Mateo County.

To view the county-by-county home sale chart, please visit DQNews.com.

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick. Data available at DQNews.com
© 2015 CoreLogic, Inc. All rights reserved.

February Southland Home Sales Press Release

Southern California Home Sales Dip Year Over Year Again; Median Price Edges Higher

March 17, 2015

CoreLogic® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider, today released its February 2015 Southern California housing market report, which shows the number of homes sold rose slightly from January but hit the lowest level for a February in seven years. Also according to the report, the median price paid for a home, which hasn’t changed much since last fall, inched up from January and rose year over year for the 35th consecutive month.

A total of 13,650 new and existing houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in February 2015. That was up 0.7 percent month over month from 13,560 sales in January 2015, and down 2.7 percent year over year from 14,027 sales in February 2014, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.

On average, Southern California home sales have increased 0.7 percent between the months of January and February since 1988, when CoreLogic DataQuick data began. Sales have fallen on a year-over-year basis in 15 out of the last 17 months.

February home sales have ranged from a low of 10,777 in 2008 to a high of 26,587 in 2004. February 2015 sales were 21.6 percent below the February average of 17,420 sales since 1988.

"This feels a lot like early 2014, with home sales off to a slow start as many would-be home buyers struggle with inventory constraints, credit hurdles and reduced affordability," said Andrew LePage, data analyst for CoreLogic DataQuick. "And just like a year ago, one of the big questions hanging over the market is whether we'll see a sizeable jump in inventory this spring and summer. A nearly three-year stretch of price appreciation has given many more owners enough equity to sell their homes and buy another. Recent job growth has helped fuel housing demand and if that’s met with only a modest rise in the supply of homes for sale it will put upward pressure on prices. Of course, the direction of mortgage rates, among other factors, will also play a role in determining how the housing market shapes up this year."

The median price paid for all new and existing houses and condos sold in the six-county Southern California region in February 2015 was $415,000, up 1.5 percent month over month from $409,000 in January 2015 and up 8.4 percent year over year from $383,000 in February 2014. The median hasn't changed significantly since September 2014, when it was $413,000. The median's 2014 peak was $420,000 in August.

The median sale price in Southern California has risen on a year-over-year basis each month since April 2012. In the 22 months between August 2012 and May 2014 those annual gains were double digit, as high as 28.3 percent in June 2013. Since then, the year-over-year increases in the median sale price have been single-digit. The February 2014 median price rose 19.7 percent compared with February 2013 – more than double the 8.4 percent gain when comparing February 2015 with February 2014.

The February 2015 median sale price was 17.8 percent below the peak median price of $505,000 reached in March, April, May and July of 2007. Among the region’s six counties, the February 2015 median in Orange County ($590,750) was the closest – within 8.4 percent – to its peak of $645,000 in June 2007.

The number of Southern California homes that sold for $500,000 or more in February 2015 rose 3.9 percent compared with February 2014. Sales below $500,000 fell 9.4 percent year over year, and sales below $200,000 dropped 26.1 percent.

Other Southern California housing market highlights from February 2015 include the following:

• Foreclosure resales represented 6.0 percent of the resale market in February. That was up from a revised 5.7 percent in January 2015 and down from 6.7 percent in February 2014. In recent months the foreclosure resale rate has been the lowest since early 2007. In the current cycle, foreclosure resales hit a high of 56.7 percent in February 2009. Foreclosure resales are purchased homes that have been previously foreclosed upon in the prior 12 months.

• Short sales made up an estimated 6.1 percent of resales in February, down from a revised 6.6 in January 2015 and down from 9.0 percent in February 2014. Short sales are transactions in which the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property.

• Absentee buyers – mostly investors – bought 26.7 percent of the homes sold in February. That was up from a revised 26.3 percent in January 2015 and down from 28.9 percent in February 2014. The peak absentee share was 32.4 percent in January 2013, and the monthly average since 2000, when CoreLogic DataQuick absentee data began, is about 19 percent. Absentee buyers include those who purchase vacation homes or other properties that public property records suggest are not used as primary residences.

• Cash buyers accounted for 28.0 percent of February home sales, up from a revised 26.4 percent in January 2015 and down from 31.0 percent in February 2014. The peak cash share was 36.9 percent in February 2013, and the monthly average since 1988 is about 17 percent.

• The typical monthly mortgage payment for Southern California home buyers in February was $1,530, up from $1,501 in January 2015 and up from $1,516 in February 2014. Adjusted for inflation, the February 2015 typical payment was 36.1 percent below the typical payment in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was also 47.7 percent below the current cycle’s peak in July 2007.

To view the county-by-county home sale chart, please visit DQNews.com.

January California Home Sales Press Release

California January Home Sales

February 18, 2015

An estimated 25,325 new and resale houses and condos sold in California in January 2015. That was down month over month by 30.6 percent from 36,468 sales in December 2014 and down year over year by 2.0 percent from 25,832 sales in January 2014.

January home sales have varied from a low of 19,145 sales in 2008 to a high of 47,138 sales in 2004. The January 2015 sales were 18.8 percent lower than the January average of 31,177 sales since 1988, when CoreLogic DataQuick data began. California sales haven’t been above average for any particular month in more than eight years.

The median price paid for a home in California in January 2015 was $376,000, down month over month by 3.1 percent from $388,000 in December 2014 and up year over year by 6.5 percent from $353,000 in January 2014.

January 2015 marked the 35th consecutive month in which the state's median sale price has increased on a year-over-year basis. The peak year-over-year price gain during that period was 29.2 percent in July 2013. Since then price gains have trended lower and since July 2014 the year-over-year increases have been single-digit – between about 6 percent and 7 percent from October 2014 through January 2015.

The January 2015 median price was 22.3 percent lower than California’s peak median price of $484,000, reached in March/April/May 2007, and it was 70.1 percent higher than the post-peak trough of $221,000 in April 2009. That trough was reached during a period when distressed property sales were at unusually high levels and sales of mid- to high-end homes were at relatively low levels.

Of the existing homes sold statewide in January 2015, 6.7 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. That was up from a revised 6.0 percent in December 2014 and down from 7.7 percent in January 2014. Foreclosure resales peaked at 58.8 percent in February 2009.

Short sales made up an estimated 6.4 percent of homes that resold in January 2015, up slightly month over month from 6.3 percent in December 2014 and down year over year from 10.7 percent in January 2014. Short sales are transactions in which the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property.

The typical monthly mortgage payment for California homebuyers in January 2015 was $1,379, down from $1,457 in December 2014 and down from $1,426 in January 2014. Adjusted for inflation, the January 2015 typical payment was 40.6 percent below the typical payment in the spring of 1989, which was the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 51.8 percent below the current cycle's peak in June 2006 and 49.0 percent above the January 2012 trough of the current cycle.

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick; DQNews.com

Copyright 2015 CoreLogic. All rights reserved.

January Bay Area Region Home Sales Press Release

Bay Area January Home Sales Slowest in Seven Years; Single-Digit Annual Price Gain

February 18, 2015

CoreLogic® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider, today released its January 2015 San Francisco Bay Area housing market report. January home sales dropped sharply month over month, which is normal for the season, and dipped year over year to the lowest level for a January in seven years. The median price paid for a home in January also declined sharply month over month – another seasonal norm – but it rose 9 percent from a year earlier, marking the 34th straight month with a year-over-year price gain.

A total of 4,439 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine-county Bay Area in January 2015. That was down month over month by 40.5 percent from 7,456 sales in December 2014 and down year over year by 5.5 percent from 4,696 sales in January 2014, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.

Bay Area sales have fallen an average of 28.5 percent between the months of December and January since 1988, when CoreLogic DataQuick data began.

January 2015 sales were the lowest for that month since 3,586 homes sold in January 2008, which is the trough for January home sales in CoreLogic DataQuick’s statistics. The peak for January home sales was in 2005, when 8,298 homes sold. The January 2015 sales tally was 25.8 percent below the historical January average of 5,985 sales.

The median price paid for a home in the Bay Area was $572,000 in January 2015. That was down month over month by 5.1 percent from $603,000 in December 2014 and up year over year by 9.0 percent from $525,000 in January 2014. Although January 2015 marked the 34th consecutive month with a year-over-year gain in the median sale price, those annual increases slipped from double-digit to single-digit gains in the last few months. In January 2014 the region’s median price rose by 26.5 percent compared with January 2013 – nearly triple the gain when comparing January 2015 to January 2014.

The Bay Area median sale price peaked at $665,000 in June and July 2007 and dropped to a post-boom low of $290,000 in March 2009.

“January isn’t really a bellwether month when it comes to housing trends. For that we’ll have to wait until spring,” said Andrew LePage,” CoreLogic DataQuick data analyst. “But the latest data do indicate the market continues to struggle with challenges that many in the industry hoped would be resolved last year – challenges such as inactive groups of buyers and sellers and a mortgage market that remains difficult for many. More job and income growth, coupled with low mortgage rates, could fuel demand this year in a market still running short on supply and struggling with affordability constraints. It will be interesting to see whether recent home price appreciation will trigger a more pronounced ‘supply response’ – an increase in the number of homes listed for sale.”

Other January 2015 Bay Area housing market highlights include the following:


•Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), an indicator of mortgage availability, accounted for 20.5 percent of the Bay Area’s home purchase loans in January, down from a revised 22.0 percent in December 2014, and down from 25.1 percent in January 2014. ARMs hit a low of 3.0 percent of purchase loans in January 2009 and reached a post-housing-bust peak of 27.8 percent in April 2014. Since 2000, ARMs have accounted for about 46 percent of all Bay Area purchase loans.

•Jumbo loans, or mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 52.3 percent of purchase lending in January, down from a revised 54.5 percent in December 2014, and up from 46.1 percent in January 2014. Jumbo usage dropped to as low as 17.1 percent in January 2009. Prior to the August 2007 credit crunch, jumbo loans accounted for more than 60 percent of the Bay Area’s home purchase loans.

•Foreclosure resales accounted for 4.5 percent of all resales in January, up from a revised 3.6 percent in December 2014 and down from 5.2 percent in January 2014. Foreclosure resales in the Bay Area peaked at 52.0 percent in February 2009, while the monthly average over the past 17 years is about 10 percent. Foreclosure resales are purchased homes that have been previously foreclosed upon in the prior 12 months.

•Short sales made up an estimated 4.0 percent of Bay Area resales in January, the same as in December 2014 and down from 8.5 percent in January 2014. Short sales are transactions in which the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property.

•Absentee buyers – mostly investors – purchased 21.0 percent of all Bay Area homes sold in January, up from a revised 19.0 percent in December 2014 and down from 24.5 percent in January 2014. The November 2014 absentee share (18.3 percent) was the lowest for any month since August 2010, when it was 17.8 percent. The peak absentee share was 28.7 percent in February 2013, and the monthly average since 2000, when CoreLogic DataQuick absentee data began, is about 16 percent.

•Cash buyers accounted for 22.6 percent of home sales in January, up from 18.2 percent in December 2014 and down from 25.8 percent in January 2014. The December 2014 cash level was the lowest for any month since September 2008, when it was 17.7 percent. The peak was 32.3 percent in February 2013, and the monthly average since 1988 is about 14 percent.

•Bay Area home buyers used $1.44 billion of their own money in the form of a down payment or as an outright cash purchase in January 2015. They borrowed $2.09 billion in mortgage money from lenders.

•The typical monthly mortgage payment for Bay Area home buyers in January 2015 was $2,099. Adjusted for inflation, that payment was 26.7 percent below the typical payment in spring 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 45.8 percent below the current cycle's peak in July 2007 and 66 percent above the February 2012 bottom of the current cycle.
Because of late data availability, sales were estimated in San Mateo County.

To view the county-by-county chart, please visit DQNews.com.

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick. Data available at DQNews.com
© 2015 CoreLogic, Inc. All rights reserved.

January Southland Home Sales Press Release

Southern California Home Sales Decline; Median Sale Price Still Up Year Over Year

February 17, 2015

CoreLogic® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider, today released its January 2015 Southern California housing market report. Home sales in January fell sharply from December, as they normally do, and dipped modestly from a year earlier, marking the 14th month in the last 16 to post a year-over-year sales decline. The median price paid for a home in the six-county region also dropped month over month but rose year over year for the 34th consecutive month, although that increase was less than half the gain of a year earlier.

A total of 13,560 new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in January 2015. That was down month over month 29.4 percent from 19,205 sales in December 2014, and down year over year 6.3 percent from 14,471 sales in January 2014, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.

On average, Southern California sales have fallen 27.6 percent between December and January since 1988, when CoreLogic DataQuick data began.

January home sales have ranged from a low of 9,983 in 2008 to a high of 26,083 in 2004. January 2015 sales were 21.7 percent below the January average of 17,322 sales since 1988.

"The January and February statistics are always interesting, and sometimes a bit strange, but they're not necessarily a good indication of what's to come," said Andrew LePage, data analyst for CoreLogic DataQuick. "That's largely because many traditional buyers and sellers drop out of the housing market during the holidays and mid winter, and therefore don’t close deals during those months. In recent years that's led to somewhat higher concentrations of investor activity for January and February, and we saw that again last month. Heading into spring it will be interesting to see whether price appreciation and other factors will finally release a lot of the pent-up supply of homes out there. More owners have gained enough equity to sell and buy another home and more will be satisfied with how much their homes can fetch. At the same time, recent gains in job and income growth, coupled with low mortgage rates, could stoke demand and put significant pressure on prices unless we see a meaningful jump in inventory.”

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the six-county region in January 2015 was $409,000, down 1.4 percent month over month from $415,000 in December 2014 and up 7.6 percent year over year from $380,000 in January 2014. The median hasn't changed significantly since September 2014, when it was $413,000. The median's peak for 2014 was $420,000 in August.

Southern California's median sale price has risen on a year-over-year basis each month since April 2012. In the 22 months between August 2012 and May 2014 those annual gains were double digit, as high as 28.3 percent in June 2013. Since then, the year-over-year increases in the median sale price have been single-digit. In January 2014 the median rose 18.4 percent compared with January 2013 – more than twice the 7.6 percent gain when comparing January 2015 with January 2014.

The January 2015 median sale price was 19.0 percent below the peak median price of $505,000 reached in March, April, May and July of 2007. Among the region’s six counties, the January 2015 median in Orange County ($562,500) was the closest – within 12.8 percent – to its peak of $645,000 in June 2007.

Home prices in Southern California have been rising at different rates depending on price segment. In January 2015, the lowest-cost third of the region's housing stock experienced a 9.0 percent year-over-year increase in the median price paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses. The annual gain was 5.7 percent for the middle third of the market and 3.2 percent for the top, most-expensive third.

The number of homes that sold for $500,000 or more in January 2015 rose 2.0 percent compared with January 2014. Sales below $500,000 fell 13.8 percent year over year, and sales below $200,000 dropped 30.3 percent.

Other Southern California housing market highlights from January 2015 include the following:

•Foreclosure resales represented 5.7 percent of the resale market in January. That was up from a revised 5.3 percent in December 2014 and down from 6.6 percent in January 2014. In recent months the foreclosure resale rate has been the lowest since early 2007. In the current cycle, foreclosure resales hit a high of 56.7 percent in February 2009. Foreclosure resales are purchased homes that have been previously foreclosed upon in the prior 12 months.

•Short sales made up an estimated 6.5 percent of resales in January, up from a revised 6.2 in December 2014 and down from 10.7 percent in January 2014. Short sales are transactions in which the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property.

•Absentee buyers – mostly investors – bought 25.0 percent of the homes sold in January. That was up from a revised 23.6 percent in December 2014 and down from 27.6 percent in January 2014. The December 2014 absentee level tied the October 2014 level as the lowest for any month since October 2010, when 22.1 percent of homes were sold to absentee buyers. The peak absentee share was 32.4 percent in January 2013, and the monthly average since 2000, when CoreLogic DataQuick absentee data began, is about 19 percent. Absentee buyers include those who purchase vacation homes or other properties that public property records suggest are not used as primary residences.

•Cash buyers accounted for 24.6 percent of January home sales, up from a revised 22.2 percent in December 2014 and down from 29.9 percent in January 2014. The December 2014 cash share was the lowest for any month since January 2009, when 22.0 percent of homes were bought with cash. The peak was 36.9 percent in February 2013, and the monthly average since 1988 is about 17 percent.

•Jumbo loans, or mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 30.7 percent of purchase lending in January, down from a revised 32.1 percent in December 2014 and up from 26.6 percent in January 2014. The July/August 2014 level of 32.3 percent was the highest since the credit crunch struck in August 2007. Prior to August 2007, jumbo loans accounted for around 40 percent of the home-loan market. The jumbo level dropped to as low as 9.3 percent in January 2009.

•Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) represented 11.3 percent of home purchase loans in January, down from 12.3 percent in December 2014 and down from 13.5 percent in January 2014. The ARM share dropped to as low as 1.9 percent of home purchase loans in May 2009. Since 2000, a monthly average of about 30 percent of purchase loans have been ARMs.

•The typical monthly mortgage payment for Southern California home buyers in January was $1,501, down from $1,558 in December 2014 and down from $1,528 in January 2014. Adjusted for inflation, the January 2015 typical payment was 37.7 percent below the typical payment in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was also 48.9 percent below the current cycle’s peak in July 2007.

To view the county-by-county home sale chart, please visit DQNews.com.

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick. Data available at DQNews.com
Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Copyright 2015 CoreLogic. All rights reserved.

December California Home Sales Press Release

California December Home Sales

An estimated 36,468 new and resale houses and condos were sold in California in December 2014. That was up month over month by 23.8 percent from 29,459 sales in November 2014, and up year over year by 4.3 percent from 34,949 sales in December 2013.

December home sales have varied from a low of 25,585 sales in 2007 to a high of 66,503 sales in 2003. The December 2014 sales were 15.7 percent lower than the December average of 43,285 sales since 1988, when CoreLogic DataQuick data began. California sales haven’t been above average for any particular month in more than eight years.

The median price paid for a home in California in December 2014 was $388,000, up month over month by 1.8 percent from $381,000 in November 2014 and up year over year by 6.3 percent from $365,000 in December 2013.

December 2014 marked the 34th consecutive month in which the state's median sale price has increased on a year-over-year basis. The peak year-over-year price gain was 29.2 percent in July 2013. Since then the annual gains have generally trended downward and have been single-digit since July 2014.

The December 2014 median price was 19.8 percent lower than California’s peak median price of $484,000, reached in March/April/May 2007, and it was 75.6 percent higher than the post-peak trough of $221,000 in April 2009. That trough was reached during a period when distressed property sales were at unusually high levels and sales of mid- to high-end homes were at relatively low levels.

Of the existing homes sold statewide in December 2014, 5.7 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. That was down from a revised 5.9 percent in November 2014 and down from 6.9 percent in December 2013. Foreclosure resales peaked at 58.8 percent in February 2009.

Short sales made up an estimated 6.3 percent of homes that resold in December 2014, up slightly month over month from 6.2 percent in November 2014 and down year over year from 10.3 percent in December 2013. Short sales are transactions in which the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property.

The typical monthly mortgage payment for California homebuyers in December 2014 was $1,457, up from $1,455 in November 2014 and down from $1,473 in December 2013. Adjusted for inflation, the December 2014 typical payment was 37.8 percent below the typical payment in the spring of 1989, which was the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 49.6 percent below the current cycle's peak in June 2006 and 56.1 percent above the January 2012 trough of the current cycle.

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick; DQNews.com

Copyright 2015 CoreLogic. All rights reserved.