DQNews Archived Article

SoCal Home Prices Rise

by Real Estate Analyst John Karevoll
May, 1997

La Jolla, CA.— After a year-and-a-half of robust increases in sales counts, Southern California home prices have started to show strength, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 20,403 new and resale houses and condos were sold in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and San Diego counties in April. That was up 11.1 percent from 18,370 for the month before and up 3.4 percent from 19,728 for April last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

The year-over-year sales increase is the sixteenth in a row, last month was the strongest April since 1990 when 22,212 homes were sold. So far this year 67,493 homes have been sold, up 4.8 percent from 64,400 for the same period last year.

"The sales increases have been with us for a while and the market could well level off at today's strong sales pace. Prices bottomed out in 1995, but didn't go up much until recently," said Michael Ela, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Southern California home was $165,000 in April. That was up 1.2 percent from $163,000 for the month before and up 3.1 percent from $160,000 for April last year. The median hasn't been at the current level since December 1994 when it was $166,000.

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

The median square-foot resale house price, which adjusts for these shifts in market mix, was $112.63 in April. That was up 2.6 percent from $109.79 for April last year, DataQuick reported.

	#Sold	#Sold	Pct.	Med($K)	Med($K)	Pct.
All Homes	Apr-96	Apr-97	Chng	Apr-96	Apr-97	Chng
Los Angeles	7,801	8,133	4.3	$161	$169	5
Orange County	3,411	3,460	1.4	$192	$192	0
San Diego	3,024	3,152	4.2	$167	$173	3.6
Riverside	2,352	2,389	1.6	$129	$128	-0.8
San Bernardino	2,178	2,295	5.4	$117	$121	3.4
Ventura	962	974	1.2	$190	$203	6.8
So. California	19,728	20,403	3.4	$160	$165	3.1

Source: DataQuick Information Systems

Media Inquiries: John Karevoll (909)867-9534

Copyright © 1997 DataQuick Information Systems.
All rights reserved.

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