DQNews Archived Article

Strong 1998 Start for Bay Area Home Sales

by Real Estate Analyst John Karevoll
March, 1998

La Jolla, CA.— Sales of Bay Area homes continued at their strongest pace of the decade in February as price increases continued to spread from high-end to less expensive real estate markets, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 4,007 resale houses were sold in the nine-county Bay Area in February. That was down 2.7 percent from January's 4,119, and up 11.4 percent from 3,596 for February a year ago, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

The dip from January to February is normal for the season. The year-over-year increase was the 31st in a row. The sales count was the highest for any February since 4,489 resale houses were sold in that month in 1989.

"The rise in sales counts will probably level off somewhat later this year when we'll be comparing a current sales pace with strong year-ago numbers. We also expect the double-digit increases in home prices to level off somewhat as the sales surge continues to move into the mid- and entry-level markets," said Mike Ela, DataQuick leader.

February's median sales price for a resale house was $258,000, down 1.1 percent from $261,000 for January and up 13.2 percent from $228,000 for February a year ago. Year-over-year price increases have exceeded 10 percent the last six months.

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

When the real estate market started to rebound three years ago, price and sales increases first showed up in prestige and move-up markets. Those increases later migrated through the mid-sized home categories and are now evident in entry-level markets, DataQuick reported.

Resale houses

	No Sold	No Sold	Pct.	Median	Median	Pct.
	Feb-97	Feb-98	Chng.	Feb-97	Feb-98	Chng.
Alameda	663	751	13.30%	$200K	$222K	11.00%
Contra Costa	628	730	16.20%	$189K	$215K	13.80%
Marin	174	209	20.10%	$315K	$365K	15.90%
Napa	45	77	71.10%	$180K	$190K	5.60%
San Francisco	233	213	-8.60%	$269K	$290K	7.80%
San Mateo	354	399	12.70%	$286K	$350K	22.40%
Santa Clara	929	995	7.10%	$265K	$310K	17.00%
Solano	276	277	0.40%	$139K	$145K	4.30%
Sonoma	294	356	21.10%	$194K	$192K	-1.00%
Bay Area	3,596	4,007	11.40%	$228K	$258K	13.20%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems

Media Inquiries: John Karevoll (909)867-9534

Copyright © 1998 DataQuick Information Systems.
All rights reserved.

---