DQNews Archived Article

SoCal Home Sales and Prices Surge

by Real Estate Analyst John Karevoll
August, 1997

La Jolla, CA.— The pace quickened for Southern California home sales in July as prices continued to climb, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 22,389 new and resale houses and condos were purchased in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties last month. That was up 2.4 percent from 21,855 for June and up 17.7 percent from 19,020 for July a year ago, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

July's sales count was the highest since August 1990 when 24,298 homes were sold. Sales normally decline somewhat from June to July, and the month-to-month increase was uncommon for the season. July's year-over-year sales increase of 17.7 percent was the strongest in a year.

"The jump in sales activity was somewhat stronger than we anticipated and the supply of homes on the market is dwindling. This sets the stage for continued price increases," said Mike Ela, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Southern California home was $169,000 last month, up 4.3 percent from $162,000 a year ago. The year-over-year price jump was the strongest since July 1991 when prices jumped 4.5 percent during a post-Gulf War wave of optimism about the economy.

DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide, and provides information to consumers, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts. The numbers include extrapolated data for San Bernardino County for the last week of July because of data availability problems.

While sales counts and prices are increasing in all home categories and in all geographic areas, the increases are strongest in the move-up and prestige home markets, DataQuick reported.

	#Sold	#Sold		Med($K)	Med($K)
All Homes	Jul-96	Jul-97	% Chg	Jul-96	Jul-97	% Chg
Los Angeles	7,687	8,859	15.2	$165	$172	4.2
Orange County	2,983	3,871	29.8	$193	$199	3.1
San Diego	3,096	3,936	27.1	$169	$170	0.6
Riverside	2,288	2,377	3.9	$126	$131	4.0
San Bernardino	2,057	2,245	9.1	$118	$123	4.2
Ventura	909	1,101	21.1	$193	$202	4.7
So. California	19,020	22,389	17.7	$162	$169	4.3

Source: DataQuick Information Systems

Media Inquiries: John Karevoll (909)867-9534

Copyright © 1997 DataQuick Information Systems.
All rights reserved.

---