DQNews Archived Article

Bay Area home sales continue to rise

by Real Estate Analyst John Karevoll
November, 1996

La Jolla, CA.— Home sales in the nine-county Bay Area picked up again in October as prices continued to increase moderately, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 5,125 resale houses were sold in the region last month. That was up 13.8 percent from 4,503 for September and up 15.4 percent from 4,440 for October a year ago, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

The month-to-month sales increase is not common for this time of year as sales counts usually decline from September to October. With the exception of last September, there have been year-over-year sales increases in Bay Area sales every month since August 1995.

"The rest of California is watching real estate activity in the Bay Area with raw envy. Sales may be up elsewhere, but prices are flat or increasing very slowly," said Donald L. Cohn, DataQuick CEO.

The median price paid for a resale house was $231,000 last month. That was down 2.1 percent from $236,000 in September and up 3.6 percent from $223,000 for October last year. A decline in the median from September to October is normal for the season as buying patterns change. The year-over-year increase in median price was the tenth in a row for the Bay Area.

DataQuick monitors real estate purchasing and financing nationwide, and provides information to consumers, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.

So far this year 49,152 resale houses have been sold in the Bay Area, up 20.9 percent from 40,661 for 1995. This year will be the strongest sales year of the 1990s, led by significant sales surges in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

The year-to-date median price is $235,000 for a resale house, up 3.5 percent from $227,000 for last year.
Sales in other home categories were also up last month. Sales of resale condos and of newly-built homes have also been going up for over a year, DataQuick reported.

Resale houses

	#Sold	#Sold	Pct.	Med($K)	Med($K)	Pct.
	Oct-95	Oct-96	Chng.	Oct-95	Oct-96	Chng.
Alameda	843	989	17.3	$200	$205	2.5
Contra Costa	744	825	10.9	$200	$195	-2.5
Marin	213	259	21.6	$315	$330	4.8
Napa	88	70	-20.5	$167	$159	-4.8
San Francisco	272	339	24.6	$257	$253	-1.6
San Mateo	463	602	30	$249	$297	19.3
Santa Clara	1,163	1,250	7.5	$256	$260	1.6
Solano	305	325	6.6	$142	$140	-1.4
Sonoma	349	466	33.5	$189	$190	0.5
Bay Area	4,440	5,125	15.4	$223	$231	3.6

Source: DataQuick Information Systems

For more information call John Karevoll (909)867-9534

Copyright © 1996 DataQuick Information Systems.
All rights reserved.