Thursday, February 19, 2015

CALIFORNIA HOME SALES AND PRICES START YEAR LOWER

REAL ESTATE NEWS

CALIFORNIA HOME SALES AND PRICES START YEAR LOWERCalifornia’s housing market started the new year still bearing the scars of 2014’s tight housing inventory and low housing affordability as statewide home sales fell from the previous month and year, C.A.R. said today.

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 351,890 units in January, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations and MLSs statewide.  Sales in January were down 3.9 percent from a revised 366,130 in December and down 2.7 percent from a revised 361,790 in January 2014.  Home sales have been below the 400,000 level since November 2013. 

The median price of an existing, single-family detached California home fell 5.9 percent from December’s median price of $453,780 to $426,790 in January but was up 3.4 percent from the revised $412,820 recorded in January 2014.  The statewide median home price has been higher on a year-over-year basis for more than two years, but price gains have narrowed significantly in the past year.

Other key facts from C.A.R.’s January 2015 resale housing report include:
• The available supply of existing, single-family detached homes for sale statewide rose from 3.3 months in December to 5 months in January. The index was 4.3 months in January 2014. 
• The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was extended in January, up from a revised 47.5 days in December to 52.4 days in January and from 44.3 days in January 2014.
• According to C.A.R.’s newest housing market indicator measuring sales-to-list price ratio, properties are again generally selling below the list price, except in the San Francisco Bay Area, where a lack of homes for sale is keeping sales prices in line with original asking prices.  The statewide measure suggests that homes are selling at a median of 96.9 percent of the list price, down slightly from a ratio of 97.8 percent at the same time last year. The Bay Area is the only region where homes are selling at original list prices.
• The average California price per square foot for an existing single-family home was $203 in January 2015, a decrease of 3.5 percent from the previous month, but a 2.7 percent increase from January 2014.

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