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Janaury 2010 - Southern California home sales in December remained above year-ago levels for the 18th consecutive month, bolstered by gains in many mid- to high-end communities. The median sale price rose year-over-year for the first time since summer 2007, reflecting a more normal distribution of sales across all price categories, a real estate information service reported.
A total of 22,328 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was up 16.4% from November's 19,181, and up 12.1% from 19,926 in December 2008,according to MDA DataQuick. The San Diego firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.
Sales almost always rise from November to December. Last month's gain was a bit higher than the average increase of 13% since 1988, when DataQuick's statistics begin.
The December sales tally was the highest for that month since 24,209 homes sold in December 2006, but it was still 11.2% below the average for a December - 25,143 sales - over the past 22 years.
The sales pattern has changed a lot over the past year, with many mid-to high-end communities now contributing more transactions.
For example, relatively large annual sales gains were recorded last month in many well-known, higher-end markets including Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Newport Beach - areas that saw very low sales a year ago. Meanwhile, some of the more affordable inland areas that saw robust 2008 sales recorded year-over-year declines last month. Those markets included Moreno Valley, Lake Elsinore and Palmdale.
Southland homes sold above $500,000 last month rose to 20.2% of all sales, up from 16.5% a year earlier and the highest since it was 23.6% in August 2008. On average since 2000, $500,000-plus sales have made up 36.5% of total sales. Right before the credit crunch hit in August 2007, making larger "jumbo" mortgages more expensive and harder to obtain, $500,000-plus sales made up about 52% of Southland transactions.
More sales in once-dormant high-end communities helps explain last month's year-over-year gain in the median sale price - the point where half of the homes sold for more, half for less.
The median paid for all Southland houses and condos sold in December was $289,000, up 1.4% from $285,000 in November and up 4% from $278,000 a year earlier. The last time the median increased year-over-year was in August 2007, when it rose 2.7% to $500,000, near its peak.
The median has increased or held steady for eight consecutive months, but in December it was still 42.8% lower than the peak Southland median of $505,000 reached during several months in early and mid 2007. In late 2008 and early 2009, the monthly declines in the median from a year earlier ranged from 30 to 40%.
"Several forces have pulled the region's median sale price out of its nose dive and given it lift," said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president.
"We've seen the re-selling of foreclosed homes fall off its peak in newer, lower-cost inland areas, while at the same time sales have started to pick up in some of the more established expensive areas. That simple shift in what's selling, and what's not selling, puts upward pressure on the median. That's statistical. But we've also seen price floors, however temporary, form in many areas recently as the foreclosure inventory dwindled and buyers took advantage of lower prices, lower mortgage rates and tax credits. A meaningful comeback in the jumbo loan market would provide another big boost in the pricier areas."
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