California April sales and price report

REAL ESTATE NEWS

For release:
May 15, 2014

California median home price reaches highest level since December 2007; home sales register largest monthly gain since January 2011

LOS ANGELES (May 15) –Showing true signs of improvement, California’s housing market continued to perform better than expected in April with both the median home price and home sales increasing month to month, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®  (C.A.R.) said today. However, decreased home affordability remains a challenge for buyers in many areas of the state.

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 394,070 units in April, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations and MLSs statewide.  April marked the sixth consecutive month that sales were below the 400,000 level and the ninth straight decline on a year-over-year basis.  Sales in April increased 7.4 percent from a revised 367,020 in March but were down 7 percent from a revised 423,690 in April 2013.  The statewide sales figure represents what would be the total number of homes sold during 2014 if sales maintained the April pace throughout the year.  It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.

“With home prices increasing by double-digits in 2013, many investors have decided to leave the market which is adversely affecting home sales as a whole,” said C.A.R. President Kevin Brown.  “While the number of homes sold continued to decline from a year ago, the better-than normal surge in sales activities in April is encouraging and could be an indication that we will see further improvement in the housing market in the next few months.” 

The statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home rose 3.2 percent to $449,360 in April compared with March, reaching its highest level since December 2007. April’s price was 11.6 percent higher than the revised $402,830 recorded in April 2013, marking the second straight month that the median price increased both month to month and year to year. The statewide median home price has increased year over year for the previous 26 months. The median sales price is the point at which half of homes sold for more and half sold for less; it is influenced by the types of homes selling as well as a general change in values.

“Looking forward, it is likely that we will see a more moderate level of price increase throughout the rest of the year, and further improvements in sales in the spring home buying season,” said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. “Increasing home prices, relatively higher interest rates, and tight lending standards, however, will continue to present challenges to home buyers who are facing affordability issues.  Primary home buyers may no longer have to compete with investors in 2014, but instead they need to worry about increased borrowing costs.”

Other key facts from C.A.R.’s April 2014 resale housing report include:

• Housing inventory remained tight in April, with the supply of existing, single-family detached homes for sale slipping last month to 3.5 months, down from March’s Unsold Inventory Index of 4 months, but up from 2.8 months in April 2013.  The index indicates the number of months needed to sell the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.  A six- to seven-month supply is considered typical in a normal market.

• The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home fell to 33.8 days in April, down from 35 days in March but up from 27.9 days in April 2013.
• Mortgage rates remained flat in April, with the 30-year, fixed-mortgage interest rate averaging 4.34 percent, the same rate recorded in March, but up from 3.45 percent in April 2013, according to Freddie Mac.  Adjustable-mortgage interest rates in April averaged 2.44 percent, down from 2.48 in March and down from 2.63 percent in April 2013.

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Note:  The County MLS median price and sales data in the tables are generated from a survey of more than 90 associations of REALTORS® throughout the state, and represent statistics of existing single-family detached homes only.  County sales data are not adjusted to account for seasonal factors that can influence home sales.  Movements in sales prices should not be interpreted as changes in the cost of a standard home.  The median price is where half sold for more and half sold for less; medians are more typical than average prices, which are skewed by a relatively small share of transactions at either the lower-end or the upper-end. Median prices can be influenced by changes in cost, as well as changes in the characteristics and the size of homes sold.  Due to the low sales volume in some areas, median price changes may exhibit unusual fluctuation. The change in median prices should not be construed as actual price changes in specific homes.

Leading the way…® in California real estate for more than 100 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States with 165,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.

April-14	Median Sold Price of Existing Single-Family Homes							Sales
State/Region/County	Apr-14	Mar-14		Apr-13		MTM% Chg	YTY% Chg	MTM% Chg	YTY% Chg
CA SFH (SAAR)	$449,360	$435,580	r	$402,830	r	3.2%	11.6%	7.4%	-7.0%
CA Condo/Townhomes	$369,770	$360,830		$319,080		2.5%	15.9%	14.2%	5.0%
Los Angeles Metropolitan Area	$412,060	$402,030		$371,170	r	2.5%	11.0%	16.7%	-7.0%
Inland Empire	$264,010	$271,250		$231,610		-2.7%	14.0%	10.2%	-4.0%
S.F. Bay Area	$768,110	$724,590		$685,530		6.0%	12.0%	26.6%	-0.3%
S.F. Bay Area
Alameda	$718,580	$660,600		$624,270		8.8%	15.1%	26.5%	1.9%
Contra-Costa (Central County)	$755,950	$703,490		$744,230		7.5%	1.6%	30.3%	19.6%
Marin	$1,007,580	$1,039,770		$952,870		-3.1%	5.7%	27.6%	2.2%
Napa	$523,150	$585,530		$453,850		-10.7%	15.3%	54.8%	-2.6%
San Francisco	$940,570	$902,540		$922,500		4.2%	2.0%	31.8%	12.3%
San Mateo	$1,001,000	$1,164,750		$913,500		-14.1%	9.6%	33.7%	0.9%
Santa Clara	$900,000	$852,000		$790,000		5.6%	13.9%	32.3%	-1.3%
Solano	$315,150	$312,350		$255,170		0.9%	23.5%	15.5%	-11.6%
Sonoma	$475,260	$494,180		$442,100		-3.8%	7.5%	1.7%	-21.8%
Southern California
Los Angeles	$406,750	$395,660	r	$361,630		2.8%	12.5%	23.3%	-6.3%
Orange County	$679,820	$675,540		$653,740		0.6%	4.0%	12.1%	-13.5%
Riverside County	$309,240	$310,670		$274,420		-0.5%	12.7%	3.8%	-6.1%
San Bernardino	$198,910	$188,800		$164,470		5.4%	20.9%	23.1%	0.0%
San Diego	$492,080	$490,280		$454,390		0.4%	8.3%	14.0%	-7.3%
Ventura	$575,390	$559,320		$502,940		2.9%	14.4%	29.1%	-9.6%
Central Coast
Monterey	$451,500	$517,500		$380,000		-12.8%	18.8%	35.0%	-16.3%
San Luis Obispo	$465,300	$491,340		$431,250		-5.3%	7.9%	18.7%	-7.8%
Santa Barbara	$633,330	$605,470		$650,000	r	4.6%	-2.6%	35.5%	-11.8%
Santa Cruz	$625,750	$635,000		$645,000		-1.5%	-3.0%	32.2%	7.8%
Central Valley
Fresno	$192,880	$202,100		$173,860		-4.6%	10.9%	21.0%	-2.7%
Glenn	$170,000	$140,000		$185,000		21.4%	-8.1%	62.5%	18.2%
Kern (Bakersfield)	$195,880	$200,000		$180,000	r	-2.1%	8.8%	18.4%	4.3%
Kings County	$166,250	$179,230		$157,140		-7.2%	5.8%	-12.7%	4.5%
Madera	$182,500	$190,000		$170,000		-3.9%	7.4%	31.8%	-3.3%
Merced	$164,540	$154,000		$139,560		6.8%	17.9%	18.9%	-7.0%
Placer County	$375,160	$367,190		$354,370		2.2%	5.9%	7.6%	-11.6%
Sacramento	$267,260	$263,810		$221,880		1.3%	20.5%	17.8%	-6.1%
San Benito	$430,000	$418,000		$358,000		2.9%	20.1%	11.6%	-5.9%
San Joaquin	$251,100	$245,900		$195,960		2.1%	28.1%	18.7%	-20.9%
Stanislaus	$212,500	$214,760		$174,390		-1.1%	21.9%	32.8%	5.5%
Tulare	$172,500	$165,380		$139,520		4.3%	23.6%	11.7%	-8.1%
Other Counties in California
Amador	$190,000	$214,280		$193,330		-11.3%	-1.7%	53.3%	-8.0%
Butte County	$254,170	$236,460		$234,000		7.5%	8.6%	27.8%	-4.6%
Calaveras	$239,000	$257,500		$212,500		-7.2%	12.5%	16.4%	-11.3%
Del Norte	$147,500	$161,450		$155,000		-8.6%	-4.8%	-16.7%	-56.5%
El Dorado County	$366,950	$385,710		$344,170		-4.9%	6.6%	10.2%	-9.4%
Humboldt	$238,460	$230,680		$251,190		3.4%	-5.1%	36.0%	-1.0%
Lake County	$158,000	$158,460		$156,670		-0.3%	0.8%	26.9%	-9.6%
Tuolumne	$237,500	$220,830		$215,380		7.5%	10.3%	6.9%	-8.8%
Mendocino	$300,000	$264,280		$350,000		13.5%	-14.3%	4.8%	29.4%
Nevada	$339,000	$340,000		NA		-0.3%	NA	-17.3%	NA
Plumas	$231,500	$207,500		NA		11.6%	NA	0.0%	-23.1%
Shasta	$202,270	$213,410		$182,920	r	-5.2%	10.6%	22.1%	-3.2%
Siskiyou County	$150,000	$173,330		$118,000		-13.5%	27.1%	6.3%	17.2%
Sutter	$216,500	$204,500		NA		5.9%	NA	50.0%	NA
Tehama	$250,000	$180,000		$156,000		38.9%	60.3%	-23.1%	-54.5%
Yolo	$331,250	$326,560		$291,340		1.4%	13.7%	28.2%	-10.2%
Yuba	$181,000	$205,000		NA		-11.7%	NA	32.2%	NA

March 2014 County Unsold Inventory and Time on Market
(Regional and condo sales data not seasonally adjusted)