REAL ESTATE TOPICS...CALIFORNIA HOME SALES COOL IN AUGUST AS PRICE GAINS TEMPER

Following a hotter than usual summer of homes sales, California’s housing market cooled in August, but still posted higher year over year for the seventh straight month, according to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.).

Making sense of the story

• Existing, single-family home sales totaled 431,800 in August on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, down 3.8 percent from July but up 9.3 percent from August 2014.

• Statewide sales were above the 400,000 mark for the fifth straight month.

• August statewide median home price was $493,420, up 1 percent from July and 2.5 percent from August 2014.

• Sales of condos and townhomes were up nearly 10 percent from last year, and are ahead 6.6 percent year to date.

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• “Home prices are finally increasing at a healthier pace, and the smallest year-over-year statewide median price gain in nearly three and a half years suggests that home prices are stabilizing,” said C.A.R. President Chris Kutzkey.

• August’s median price was 2.5 percent higher than the revised $481,240 recorded in August 2014. The median sales price is the point at which half of homes sold for more and half sold for less.

• While sales continued to improve from last year at the state level, the number of active listings continued to drop from the previous year. Active listings for California decreased 1.4 percent from July and dropped 6.2 percent from August 2014.

TALKING POINTS …

• The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index continued its steady rise in September with a one point increase to a level of 62, thereby reflecting an increase in optimism among the nation's homebuilders.

• This new reading is the highest since November 2005. "NAHB is projecting about 1.1 million total housing starts this year,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.

• The index measuring buyer traffic increased two points to 47, and the component gauging current sales conditions rose one point to 67.