DQNews Archived Article

Bay Area home sales up in January!

by Real Estate Analyst John Karevoll
February, 1997

La Jolla, CA.— Bay Area home sales got off to a flying start in 1997 with increases in both sales counts and in prices, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 3,681 resale houses were sold in the nine-county Bay Area in January. That was down 21.6 percent from 4,695 for December and up 9.5 percent from 3,362 for January a year ago, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

The decline from December to January is normal for the season. The Bay Area has seen year-over-year sales increases every month but one for the last eighteen months.

"Januarys are often atypical when it comes to statistics, but last month's numbers continue trends we've been monitoring for quite a while. If current trends stay in place, the Bay Area will have regained most of the price declines of the early 1990s by the end of this year," said Mike Ela, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a resale house was $233,000 in January, up 0.9 percent from December's $231,000 and up 6.4 percent from $219,000 for January a year ago. The year-over-year increase was the thirteenth in a row.

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

Sales in other home categories were also up in January. Sales of resale condos and of newly-built homes have also been going up for over a year, DataQuick reported.

Resale houses

	No Sold Jan-96	No Sold Jan-97	Pct. Chng.	Med($K) Jan-96	Med($K) Jan-97	Pct. Chng.
Alameda	632	707	11.9	$195	$203	4.1
Contra Costa	550	630	14.5	$187	$199	6.4
Marin	138	180	30.4	$325	$322	-0.9
Napa	59	65	10.2	$165	$176	6.7
San Francisco	232	224	-3.4	$260	$257	-1.2
San Mateo	374	392	4.8	$270	$285	5.6
Santa Clara	847	943	11.3	$242	$275	13.6
Solano	225	235	4.4	$138	$135	-2.2
Sonoma	305	305	0.0	$187	$190	1.6
Bay Area	3,362	3,681	9.5	$219	$233	6.4

Source: DataQuick Information Systems

Media Inquiries: John Karevoll (909)867-9534

Copyright © 1997 DataQuick Information Systems.
All rights reserved.

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