1Q2012 California Home Foreclosures Press Release

Further Decline in California Foreclosure Activity

April 24, 2012

La Jolla, CA.--The number of California homes entering the formal foreclosure process during the first quarter declined to its lowest level in almost five years, the result of a more stable economy and housing market, as well as policies that increasingly favor short sales, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 56,258 Notices of Default (NODs) were recorded at county recorders offices during the first quarter of this year. That was down 8.5 percent from 61,517 for the prior three months, and down 17.6 percent from 68,239 in first-quarter 2011, according to San Diego-based DataQuick.

Last quarter's tally of 56,258 NODs was the lowest since 53,943 NODs were recorded in second-quarter 2007. NOD filings peaked in first-quarter 2009 at 135,431.

"Prices peaked five years ago and then started to fall off a cliff. Foreclosure activity goes up when property values decline, and the worst of that decline was happening three years ago. Right now, property values in many areas appear flat," said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

"A few years back, there were some breathtakingly negative forecasts making the rounds regarding the foreclosure problem, some of which have played out, and some of which haven't. The 'shadow supply' has yet to result in a second huge wave of foreclosures. The 'reset problem' hasn't really materialized, largely because interest rates are resetting down, not up. And, remarkably, whole batches of presumed 'toxic' mortgages continue to perform. There's no doubt that housing, especially negative equity, is one of the biggest drags on a struggling economy, but it's not necessarily playing out the way some pundits thought," he said.

The most active "beneficiaries" in the formal foreclosure process last quarter were Bank of America (10,419), Wells Fargo (7,577), Bank of New York (5,380) and JP Morgan (5,343).

The trustees who pursued the highest number of defaults last quarter were ReconTrust Co (mostly for Bank of America and Bank of New York), Quality Loan Service Corp (Bank of America), NDEx West (Wells Fargo) and Cal-Western Reconveyance Corp (Wells Fargo).

Most of the loans going into default are still from the 2005-2007 period. The median origination quarter for defaulted loans is still third-quarter 2006. That has been the case for three years, indicating that weak underwriting standards peaked then.

Although NOD filings dropped across the home price spectrum last quarter, they remained far more concentrated in California's most affordable communities. Zip codes with first-quarter 2012 median sale prices below $200,000 collectively saw 8.9 NODs filed for every 1,000 homes in those zip codes, while the ratio was 5.6 NODs filed per 1,000 homes for zip codes with $200,000 to $800,000 medians. For the group of zip codes with median sale prices above $800,000, there were 2.3 NODs filed per 1,000 homes.

On primary mortgages, California homeowners were a median nine months behind on their payments when the lender filed the Notice of Default. The borrowers owed a median $17,897 on a median $319,418 mortgage.

On home equity loans and lines of credit in default, borrowers owed a median $4,978 on a median $75,000 credit line. The amount of the credit line that was actually in use cannot be determined from public records.

San Diego-based DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts. Notices of Default are recorded at county recorders offices and mark the first step of the formal foreclosure process.

Although 56,259 default notices were filed last quarter, they involved 55,368 homes because some borrowers were in default on multiple loans (e.g. a primary mortgage and a line of credit).

Of the state's larger counties, mortgages were least likely to go into default in Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties. The probability was highest in Tulare, Sacramento and San Joaquin counties.

Trustees Deeds recorded (TDs), or the actual loss of a home to the formal foreclosure process, totaled 30,261 during the first quarter. That was down 3.2 percent from 31,260 filed the prior quarter, and down 29.7 percent from 43,052 during first-quarter 2011.

Last quarter's Trustees Deeds total was the lowest since the third quarter of 2007, when 24,209 were filed. The all-time peak was 79,511 in third-quarter 2008. The state's all-time low was 637 in the second quarter of 2005, DataQuick reported.

Just as with NOD filings, foreclosures remained far more concentrated in the state's most affordable neighborhoods. Zip codes with first-quarter 2012 median sale prices below $200,000 collectively saw 5.9 homes foreclosed on for every 1,000 homes, compared with 2.6 foreclosures per 1,000 homes for zip codes with medians between $200,000 and $800,000 and less than one - 0.8 - foreclosure per 1,000 homes in the group of zip codes with $800,000-plus medians.

While 1.45 million of California's 8.7 million houses and condos have been involved in a foreclosure proceeding over the past five years, 835,000 (9.6 percent) have been lost to foreclosure.

Foreclosure resales - homes that had been foreclosed on over the past 12 months - accounted for 33.5 percent of California resale activity last quarter, down from a revised 33.6 percent the prior quarter and 39.8 percent a year ago. The statewide figure peaked at 57.8 percent in the first quarter of 2009. Foreclosure resales varied significantly by county last quarter, from 9.0 percent in San Francisco County to 55.2 percent in Yuba County.

Short sales - transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property - made up an estimated 20.2 percent of statewide resale activity last quarter. That was up from an estimated 19.6 percent the prior quarter and up from 18.1 percent a year earlier.

On average, homes foreclosed on last quarter took 8.5 months to wind their way through the formal foreclosure process, beginning with an NOD. That's down from an average of 9.7 months the prior quarter and 9.1 months a year earlier.

At formal foreclosure auctions held statewide last quarter, an estimated 33.4 percent of the foreclosed properties were bought by investors or others who don't appear to be lender or government entities. That was up from an estimated 29.2 percent the previous quarter and up from 23.2 percent from a year earlier, DataQuick reported.

County NOD and TD details are posted at DQNews.com

Source: DataQuick; DQNews.com

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

March California Home Sale Press Release

California March Home Sales

April 19, 2012

An estimated 37,481 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That was up 26.5 percent from 29,630 in February, and up 2.9 percent from 36,417 for March 2011.

A jump in sales from February to March is normal for the season. Last month's sales were the strongest for the month of March since 39,811 were sold in 2007. On a year-over-year basis, sales have increased the past eight months. California sales for the month of March have varied from a low of 24,565 in 2008 to a high of 68,848 in 2005, while the average is 43,883. DataQuick's statistics go back to 1988.

The median price paid for a home last month was $251,000, up 5.0 percent from $239,000 in February, and up 0.8 percent from $249,000 for March a year ago. The year-over-year increase was the first since September 2010. The bottom of the current cycle was $221,000 in April 2009, while the peak was $484,000 in early 2007.

Distressed property sales – the combination of foreclosure resales and “short sales” – continued to make up more than half of California’s resale market.

Of the existing homes sold last month, 32.5 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year – the lowest level for any month since January 2008. Last month’s figure was down from a revised 33.9 percent in February and down from 39.1 percent in March 2011. The all-time high was in February 2009 at 58.5 percent.

Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 18.9 percent of the resale market last month. That was down from 20.4 percent the month before and up from 18.5 percent a year earlier.

The typical mortgage payment that home buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $901. That was up slightly from January's $893, which was the lowest since $882 in February 1999. Adjusted for inflation, last month's typical payment was 59.8 percent below the 1989 peak of the prior real estate cycle, and 67.4 percent below the 2006 peak of the current cycle.

DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.

Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity is high, but well below peak levels. Financing with multiple mortgages is low, down payment sizes are stable, and cash and non-owner occupied buying remain at or near record levels, DataQuick reported.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916)456-7157 or alepage@dqnews.com

Source: DataQuick; DQNews.com

March Bay Area Home Sale Press Release

Bay Area Home Sales Continue to Rise. Condo Sales Jump.

April 18, 2012

La Jolla, CA.--March home sales in the Bay Area were at their highest level for that month in five years, the result of lower prices, low interest rates and an improving economy. Prices appeared to be leveling off across more of the region and may be poised to start inching back up in the stronger submarkets, a real estate information service reported.

Last month 7,694 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine-county Bay Area, up 34.9 percent from 5,702 in February, and up 9.1 percent from 7,051 in March 2011, according to San Diego-based DataQuick.

The February to March sales jump is normal for the season. Last month’s sales count was the highest for the month of March since 8,317 homes were sold in 2007. Since 1988, March sales have ranged from 4,898 in 2008 to 12,645 in 2004. The average is 8,812.

“This is the time of year when buying patterns usually start to normalize. And while the changes we’re seeing are incremental, they’re incremental in a positive direction. That said, there’s a long way to go. Two of the big issues to watch closely are how fast distressed properties are being put on the market, and the availability of, or lack of availability of, mortgage financing,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Bay Area last month was $358,000. That was up 10.2 percent from $325,000 in February, and down 0.6 percent from $360,000 in March 2011. The median has declined on a year over year basis every month since October 2010, although last month’s decline was the smallest.

The low point of the current real estate cycle was $290,000 in March 2009. The peak was $665,000 in June/July 2007. Around half of the median’s peak-to-trough drop was the result of a decline in home values, while the other half reflected a shift in the sales mix.

The Bay Area saw a total of 1,734 condo resales last month, the most for any month since August 2006, when 1,783 were sold. The median price paid for resale condos was $276,000, up 10.4 percent from $250,000 a year ago. The resale condo median had declined on a year-over-year basis in 16 of the prior 17 months.

Last month distressed property sales – the combination of foreclosure resales and “short sales” – made up 44.3 percent of the resale market. That was down from 48.8 percent in February and 48.2 percent in March a year ago.

Foreclosure resales – homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 24.9 percent of resales in March, the lowest since 23.2 percent in March 2008. Last month's figure was down from a revised 26.4 percent in February, and down from 31.5 percent a year ago. Foreclosure resales peaked at 52.0 percent in February 2009. The monthly average for foreclosure resales over the past 17 years is about 10 percent.

Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 19.4 percent of Bay Area resales last month. That was down from an estimated 22.4 percent in February and up from 16.7 percent a year earlier.

Last month 32.2 percent of Bay Area sales were for $500,000 or more, up from a revised 29.4 percent in February, and down from 34.7 percent in March 2011. The low for the current cycle was January 2009, when just 22.7 percent of sales crossed the $500,000 threshold. Over the past 10 years, a monthly average of 47.7 percent of homes sold for $500,000-plus.

Government-insured FHA home purchase loans, a popular choice among first-time buyers, accounted for 22.6 percent of all Bay Area home purchase mortgages in March, down from 22.9 percent in February and 28.5 percent a year earlier.

One indicator of mortgage availability that had seen improvement last year was low again in March, when 11.5 percent of the Bay Area’s home purchase loans were adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs). That was down from a revised 12.1 percent in February, and down from 13.7 percent in March last year. Since 2000, ARMs have accounted for 50.3 percent of all purchase loans. ARMs hit a low of 3.0 percent of loans in January 2009.

Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 30.5 percent of last month’s purchase lending, up from a revised 27.2 percent in February, and down from 30.7 percent a year ago. Jumbo usage dropped to as low as 17.1 percent in January 2009. Before the credit crunch struck in August 2007, jumbos accounted for nearly 60 percent of the Bay Area purchase loan market.

Last month absentee buyers – mostly investors – purchased 24.2 percent of all Bay Area homes sold, down from a revised 25.6 percent in February (the record since 2000) and up from 22.0 percent a year ago. Absentee buyers paid a median $246,500 in March, up from $240,500 in February and $234,500 a year ago.

Buyers who appear to have paid all cash – meaning there was no evidence of a corresponding purchase loan in the public record – accounted for 29.4 percent of sales in March. That was down from a record 31.5 percent in February, and up from 28.1 percent a year ago. The monthly average for cash purchases going back to 1988 is 12.3 percent of all sales. Cash buyers paid a median $240,000 in March, down from $242,000 in February and up from $235,000 a year earlier.

San Diego-based DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts. Because of late data availability, sales were estimated in Alameda and San Mateo counties.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,359, up from $1,225 in February, and down from $1,518 a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, last month’s payment was 51.4 percent below the typical payment in spring 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 64.1 percent below the current cycle's peak in July 2007.

Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity remains high by historical standards but below peak levels. Financing with multiple mortgages is low, down payment sizes are stable, DataQuick reported.

County chart available at DQNews.com.

Source: DataQuick, www.DQNews.com

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

March Southland Home Sale Press Release

Southland Home Sales Up; Median Price Almost Back to Year-Ago Level

April 17, 2012

La Jolla, CA---Southern California home sales shot up last month from February amid the usual surge in early-spring shopping, but the gain over a year earlier was modest. Sales of $500,000-plus homes, though a bit lower than last year, jumped 36 percent from February, helping to lift the region’s overall median sale price to a six-month high – and to about where it was in March 2011, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 19,953 new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was up 28.1 percent from 15,573 in February, and up 2.8 percent from 19,412 in March 2011, according to San Diego-based DataQuick.
It’s normal for sales to jump between February and March. On average, they've risen 37.0 percent between those two months since 1988, when DataQuick’s statistics begin. On a year-over-year basis, Southland sales have increased for three consecutive months, and for seven out of the last eight months. However, last month’s Southland sales total was still 18.6 percent below the average for all the months of March since 1988.

As in recent months, March’s year-over-year gain in sales wasn't seen across the price spectrum. Last month the number of transactions below $300,000 rose 2.3 percent from a year earlier, while the number sold between $200,000 and $400,000 rose 4.2 percent. Sales between $300,000 and $800,000 fell 0.6 percent year-over-year, and sales above $800,000 dipped 5.6 percent.

March sales of newly built homes rose almost 9 percent from a year earlier, marking the second consecutive month with a year-over-year gain. But March’s new-home tally was still the second-lowest for that month in DataQuick’s records back to 1988. Last month’s sales of existing (not new) resale single-family detached houses were the highest for a March since 2010, while resale condo sales were the lowest for that month since 2009.

“The year is young and lots could still change, but the results from the first big sales month of 2012 suggest the market is stuck in low gear. This remains a very gradual – not to mention fragile – recovery. Last month's big gain in sales from February was seasonal. A lot more people get out and shop for a home as the weather warms. More telling was the relatively small gain in sales activity compared with a year ago. It's a reminder that, for many potential buyers, lower prices and amazingly low mortgage rates still aren’t enough to get them over their hurdles: Tight credit, home values below what they owe on their mortgages, and uncertainties over the economy and home prices,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Southland home last month was $280,000, up 5.8 percent from $264,750 in February but down 0.2 percent from $280,500 in March 2011. The March median was the highest since the median was also $280,000 last September. The year-over-year decline in the March median was the smallest since February 2011, when the $275,000 median was unchanged compared with a year earlier.

Last month’s median was 13.4 percent above the low point for the current real estate cycle – $247,000 in April 2009 – and 44.6 percent below the $505,000 peak in mid 2007. The peak-to-trough drop was due to a decline in home values as well as a shift in sales toward lower-cost homes, especially inland foreclosures.

Distressed sales made up about half of last month’s resale market.

Foreclosure resales – properties foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 31.1 percent of the resale market last month, down from 32.1 percent in February and down from 36.0 percent a year earlier. Last month’s figure was the lowest since foreclosure resales were 28.6 percent of the resale market in January 2008. In the current cycle, the figure hit a high of 56.7 percent in February 2009.

Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 18.9 percent of Southland resales last month. That compares with 20.4 percent the month before and 18.5 percent a year earlier.

Credit remains tight. But the influx of more traditional buyers into the housing market during late winter and early spring brought slightly higher levels of adjustable-rate financing and “jumbo” loans last month.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) accounted for 6.2 percent of last month’s Southland home purchase loans, up from 5.8 percent the prior month and down from 7.9 percent a year earlier. Since 2000, a monthly average of about 36 percent of purchase loans were ARMs.

Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 16.4 percent of last month’s purchase lending, up from 14.4 percent the month before and 16.2 percent a year earlier. In the months leading up to the credit crisis that struck in August 2007, jumbos accounted for 40 percent of the market.

Investor activity held near record-high levels in March, and cash buying was more than double the historical average.

Absentee buyers – mostly investors and some second-home purchasers – bought 27.9 percent of the Southland homes sold last month. That was down from a record 29.9 percent the prior month but up from 26.2 percent a year earlier. Last month’s absentee buyers paid a median $210,000, up from $197,750 the month before and down from $215,000 a year earlier. The Inland Empire saw absentee buying ease slightly last month to 35.5 percent of all homes sold, down from a record 37.3 percent in February and up from 26.2 percent a year earlier. Since 2000, the Southland’s absentee buyers have purchased a monthly average of 17.1 percent of all homes sold.

Cash purchasers accounted for 31.7 percent of March home sales, down from a record 33.7 percent the month before and up from 31.2 percent a year earlier. Cash buyers paid a median $214,000 last month, up from $210,000 the prior month and up from $211,000 a year earlier. Since 2000, the monthly average for Southland homes purchased with cash is 15.2 percent. Cash purchases are where there was no indication in the public record that a corresponding purchase loan was recorded.

Government-insured FHA loans, a popular low-down-payment choice among first-time buyers, accounted for 30.1 percent of all purchase mortgages in March. Last month’s FHA level, which was the lowest for any month since August 2008, compared with 30.9 percent the month before and 31.7 percent a year earlier.

In March, 19.1 percent of all Southland home sales were for $500,000 or more – the highest level since last September, when it was 20.4 percent. Over-$500,000 sales made up 17.4 percent of all transactions the prior month and 20.3 a year earlier. The low point for $500,000-plus sales was in January 2009, when only 13.8 percent of sales were above that threshold. Over the past decade, a monthly average of 28.1 percent of homes sold for $500,000 or more.

DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Southland buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,063 last month, compared with $998 in February. Last month’s figure was down from $1,185 for the same month last year. Adjusted for inflation, current payments are 54.8 percent below typical payments in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. They are 63.0 percent below the current cycle’s peak in July 2007.

Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity remains high by historical standards but is lower than peak levels reached over the last few years. Financing with multiple mortgages is very low, and down payment sizes are stable, DataQuick reported.

County chart is available at DQNews.com

Source: DQNews.com Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Copyright 2012 DataQuick. All rights reserved.

February Miami Region Press Release

Miami Region February Home Sales

April 2, 2012

Miami-area home sales rose last month to the highest level for a February in five years as an increase in activity above $200,000 made up for a decline in sales below that threshold. The shift toward more sales in mid- to high-end communities helped push the three-county region's median sale price up on a year-over-year basis for the second consecutive month, a real estate information service reported.

In February, 7,690 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the metro area encompassing Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward counties. That was up 2.0 percent from the prior month and up 4.5 percent from a year earlier, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

Typically sales in the Miami area drop between January and February. On average, sales between those two months have fallen 5.3 percent since 1997, when DataQuick's complete Miami-area statistics begin. The sales tally for this February got a boost from the leap year, which added one extra business day to the month.

February's total sales were 11.8 percent lower than the average February sales tally of 8,720 since 1997. However, if newly built homes are excluded from the sales mix, then the number of houses and condos that closed escrow in February was 4.7 percent above the historical average for that month. Although the Miami region's new-home sales rose 2.7 percent in February compared with a year earlier, and were the highest for that month since 2009, they were still 75 percent below the average of 1,802 sales for a February since 1997. New-home sales have risen year-over-year for the past four months.

When sliced up by price segment, February sales saw a year-over-year decline of 7.3 percent for homes priced below $100,000, and a 1.9 percent annual decline for homes below $200,000. Sales above $200,000 posted a 17.1 percent annual gain, while the increase was the same - 17.1 percent - for sales between $200,000 and $600,000. The number of homes that sold for more than $800,000 rose 13.7 percent from a year earlier.

In the Miami region's multi-million-dollar luxury market, the 55 homes that sold for $2 million or more in February represented a 5.8 percent increase from a year earlier. During the first two months of this year 111 homes have sold for $2 million or more, up 9.9 percent from the same two-month period in 2011. The figures are based on public property records, where either a price or loan amount was available.

In the overall market, the median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Miami region in February was $135,000, up 3.8 percent from January and up 12.5 percent from a year earlier (the highest increase since a 13.4 percent annual gain in April 2006). February's year-over-year increase was the second in a row. Prior to January this year, the median hadn't risen on a year-over-year basis since September 2007. The median stopped falling year-over-year in December 2011, when it was exactly the same as a year earlier.

Despite the sharp gain compared with a year ago, the February median stood 53.4 percent below the Miami area's peak $290,000 median in June 2007.

There are multiple reasons for the median's 12.5 percent increase compared with a year earlier, which followed a 6.1 percent year-over-year gain this January. In addition to widening price stability and any price pressures that might be forming in some submarkets, there was a shift toward more homes selling in mid- to higher-end neighborhoods. Also, a slightly higher share of resales this February were single-family detached houses, which typically sell for more than condos, and there was a slight gain in the portion of overall home sales occurring in Palm Beach and Miami Dade counties. (See below for details on the impact of a bulk purchase of relatively high-end condos in Miami Beach).

Palm Beach's overall median sale price was $130,000 in February, up 1.3 percent from a year ago, while the overall median was $160,000 in Miami-Dade County, up 18.5 percent from a year ago. The median for all homes sold in Broward County was $115,000, up 15.0 percent from a year earlier.

For resale single-family detached houses, Palm Beach's $173,500 median sale price in February was down 3.6 percent from a year ago, while Miami Dade's $155,000 median was up 3.3 percent and Broward's resale house median, which was also $155,000 in February, was up 5.8 percent year-over-year.

In the resale condo category last month, Miami-Dade County saw a dramatic gain in its median sale price. The resale condo median surged to $150,000, up 18.0 percent from January and up 42.9 percent from a year earlier. But there's a catch: About half of that annual increase can be explained by a bulk purchase of 181 condo units by a limited partnership in February at a single luxury hotel-condo project in Miami Beach (all of the transactions were recorded on the same day). Excluding the sale of those relatively high-end 181 condos, which ranged from $233,000 to $1,648,700 , Miami-Dade's resale condo median in February would have been about $20,000 lower, or $130,000. That would have made for a 2.4 percent increase in the resale condo median compared with January, and a 23.8 percent year-over year gain. Also, that single bulk purchase - with units selling for a median $391,800 - was enough to push the three-county region's overall median sale price up by $5,000 in February.

Another bulk purchase in February saw a limited liability company buy 38 existing condo units in Miami, paying a median $158,700 per unit.

Palm Beach's $80,000 resale condo median in February was flat compared with a year earlier, while Broward's $72,950 condo median rose 12.2 percent compared with February 2011.

Another key price gauge analysts watch, the median price paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses, rose slightly in February to $86 for the overall region. That was up 1.8 percent from $85 in January and up 1.6 percent from February 2011. February's year-over-year gain was the first since June 2010, when it rose 1.0 percent. The February figure stood 55.2 percent below the peak of $211 reached in May 2006.

At the county level in February, the median paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses was $76 in Broward County, the same as in January and up 3.3 percent from a year earlier - the second consecutive month to record an annual gain. The figure was $93 in Miami-Dade County, down 4.1 percent from January and up 2.6 percent from a year earlier - the third month to post an annual gain. Palm Beach County's median paid per square foot was $96 in February, up 5.5 percent from January and down 0.9 percent from a year earlier.

Driving much of the demand for condos and other lower-cost homes are absentee buyers, who purchased a record 42.6 percent of all homes sold in the Miami area in February. That was up from the former record of 39.9 percent in January, and up from 38.3 percent a year earlier. Absentee buyers are investors, second-home buyers and others who indicate at the time of sale that their property tax bill will be sent to a different address. (Absentee statistics go back to January 2000). Absentee buyers paid a median $102,000 for all new and resale houses and condos that they purchased in February, up from $94,899 in January and $82,500 in February 2011.

February buyers who had a foreign mailing addresses in the public record represented 5.9 percent of total Miami-area home sales for the month, and accounted for 9.3 percent of the region's sales of existing (not new) condos. Of all homes bought with a foreign mailing address last month, about 82 percent were existing condos. (Note: Not all foreign buyers use a foreign mailing address, hence cannot be tracked with public records.)

Nearly 75 percent of the Miami-area's February buyers with a foreign mailing address were from Canada, while the rest were split among more than 30 other nations, including Argentina, Brazil, Israel, Venezuela, Columbia and France.

Many absentee buyers are also cash buyers, who purchased a record 68.7 percent of the Miami-area homes sold in February. That was up from 64.4 percent the prior month and 68.2 percent a year earlier. The prior peak was 68.6 percent in March 2011. Last month's cash buyers paid a median $105,000, up from $95,000 in January and $89,000 a year earlier. Cash deals are where there was no indication of a purchase loan recorded at the time of sale.

Meanwhile, use of a form of low-down-payment financing that's popular with first-time homebuyers - government-insured FHA loans - rose slightly again in February, to 38.0 percent of all home purchase loans. That was up from an FHA share of 37.7 percent of purchase loans the prior month but down from 42.0 percent a year earlier.

Full Home Sale Chart is available at DQNews.com.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Source: DataQuick; DQNews.com