California May Home Sales
June 18, 2010
An estimated 40,965 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That was up 9.3 percent from 37,481 in April, and up 4.9 percent from 39,051 for May 2009. California sales for the month of May have varied from a low of 32,223 in 1995 to a peak of 67,958 in 2004, while the average is 47,024. MDA DataQuick's statistics go back to 1988.
The median price paid for a home last month was $278,000, up 9 percent from $255,000 in April and up 20.9 percent from $230,000 a year ago. The year-over-year increase was the seventh in a row, following 27 months of year-over-year declines. The median peaked at $484,000 in early 2007.
Of the existing homes sold last month, 35.5 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. That was down from 38.1 percent in April and down from 50.2 percent a year ago. The last time foreclosure resales were as low as last month was in March 2008, when they also represented 35.5 percent of the resale market. The all-time high was in February 2009 at 58.8 percent.
The typical mortgage payment that home buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,179. That was up from $1,108 in April, and up from $972 a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, last month's mortgage payment was 45.4 percent below the spring 1989 peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 54.5 percent below the current cycle's peak in June 2006.
MDA DataQuick is a division of MDA Lending Solutions, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates. MDA DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.
Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity is off its peaks reached in the past couple of years but remains high in a historical context. Financing with multiple mortgages is low, down payment sizes are stable, cash and non-owner-occupied buying eased last month but remain above average, MDA DataQuick reported.
Media calls: Andrew LePage (916)456-7157 or alepage@dqnews.com
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