California January Home Sales
February 14, 2013
An estimated 28,871 new and resale houses and condos sold statewide last month. That was down 27.4 percent from 39,760 in December, and up 2.7 percent from 28,111 sales in January 2012, according to San Diego-based DataQuick.
A sales decline from December to January is normal for the season. January sales in California have varied from a low of 19,145 in 2008 to a high of 47,138 in 2004. Last month's sales were 8.7 percent below the average of 31,607 sales for all months of January since 1988, when DataQuick's statistics begin.
The median price paid for a home in California last month was $290,000, down 3.0 percent from $299,000 in December and up 22.9 percent from $236,000 in January 2012. January marked the 11th consecutive month in which the state's median sale price rose year-over-year. Last month's gain was the highest since January 2005, when the median at that time, $399,500, also rose 22.9 percent year-over-year. In March/April/May 2007 the median peaked at $484,000, then it declined to a low of $221,000 in April 2009.
Of the existing homes sold in January, 18.7 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. That was up from a revised 15.8 percent in December and down from 34.3 percent a year earlier. Foreclosure resales peaked at 58.8 percent in February 2009.
Short sales - transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property - made up an estimated 26.1 percent of the homes that resold statewide last month. That was down from an estimated 26.4 percent the month before and 27.0 percent a year earlier.
The typical mortgage payment that home buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,030. That was down from $1,054 in December and up from $906 a year earlier. Adjusted for inflation, the year-ago payment was the lowest in DataQuick's records. Last month's typical payment was 54.7 percent below the 1989 peak of the prior real estate cycle, and 63.2 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 decline. Foreclosure activity has been trending lower and remains well below peak levels reached several years ago. Financing with multiple mortgages is low, while down payment sizes are stable, DataQuick reported.
Media calls: Andrew LePage (916)456-7157 or alepage@dqnews.com
Source: DataQuick; DQNews.com
Copyright DataQuick. All rights reserved.
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