January 2010 - Southern California house and condominium prices rose last month for the first year-over-year increase since 2007 as sales of foreclosed homes declined and more properties sold in pricier coastal markets.
The median price was $289,000 in December, up 4 percent from a year earlier and 1.4 percent from November, MDA DataQuick said. The rise from a year earlier was the first in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties since August 2007, the San Diego-based research company said today in a statement.
The price increase was helped by a drop in foreclosure resales, which fell to 39.6 percent of all existing-home sales from 53.5 percent a year earlier, MDA DataQuick said. Home sales climbed in more expensive cities including Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Newport Beach, the research company said.
“For a long time, the high end wasn’t contributing much to sales,” Andrew LePage, an analyst with MDA DataQuick, said in an interview. “Just getting those high-end sales back into the mix can push the median up, especially when the low-end or foreclosure sales are tapering off.”
A total of 22,328 new and existing homes sold last month in the six Southern California counties tracked by MDA DataQuick, up 12 percent from a year earlier and 16 percent from November. Sales typically rise from November to December, the research company said.
Riverside Home Sale Prices Dropped - Sales climbed from a year earlier in all the Southern California counties tracked by MDA DataQuick but Riverside, where the number of homes sold dropped 3.4 percent to 4,282 in December. Sales gained the most in Los Angeles County, surging 31 percent.
The median price rose in four of the counties and dropped 14 percent in San Bernardino and 6.2 percent in Riverside. Orange County had the biggest price increase, with the median rising 9.6 percent to $435,000, MDA DataQuick said.
MDA DataQuick is a unit of Richmond, British Columbia-based MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates Ltd. MDA DataQuick compiles surveys using county records and suppplies real-estate information to public agencies, lenders and title companies.
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