California Real Estate News

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MAKING SENSE OF THE STORY FOR CONSUMERS

·      Sales of existing, single-family homes increased 49.2 percent in April in California compared with the same period a year ago, according to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ (C.A.R.) April sales and price report.

·      As the level of unsold inventory declines, the state’s median price will likely stabilize.  Inventory levels for homes in the under $500,000 segment shrank to nearly three months in April, compared with almost 10 months a year ago, while unsold inventory in the more than $1 million segment rose to approximately 17 months, compared with roughly 10 months in April 2008. 

·      The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during April 2009 was $256,700, an increase of 1.4 percent compared with the prior month, but a 36.5 percent decrease from the revised $404,470 median of a year ago.   

·      Favorable home prices in many parts of the state have led to an increase in affordability for first-time buyers.  In the first quarter of 2009, affordability rose to 69 percent, enabling many to take advantage of first-time buyer programs and near record-low interest rates. 

·      Statewide median price:  The California median price experienced unprecedented volatility between September 2007 and January 2009, ranging between a 20 and 40 percent year-over-year decline.
 

·      Bottom of the market:  With the state’s median price rising for the second consecutive month in April, some analysts are beginning to call a bottom to the market. 

Reprinted with permission of the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

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This entry was posted on 9. June 2009 at 19:08 and is filed under Housing Information/Stats, Blogroll. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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