DQNews Archived Article

California New Home Sales

by Real Estate Analyst John Karevoll
September, 1998

La Jolla, CA.— Sales of newly-built homes in California edged up slightly in August from the month before, but remained at a low level relative to overall home sales, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 5,347 newly built houses and condos were sold statewide in August. That was up 4.1 percent from 5,138 in July and down 0.6 percent from 5,380 for August last year, according to DataQuick Products Division.

Sales of newly-built homes accounted for 12 percent of the overall 44,686 new and resale homes sold in August. The newly-built category usually accounts for 15-17 percent of the market; in "boom" times that can go up to 20-22 percent.

"Builders are generally selling homes as fast as they're building them, they're just not building as quickly as used to during previous sales surges. They make more money building and selling larger homes, and that's what they're doing right now," said Mike Ela, leader of DataQuick Products Division.

The median price paid for a newly constructed home in California was $233,000 in August, well ahead of the $205,000 for the same month last year. The new home median in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties is just under $400,000.

DataQuick Products Division monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts. New home sales are going up in San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Solano and Sonoma counties, DataQuick reported.

Source: DataQuick Information Systems

Media Inquiries: John Karevoll (909)867-9534

Copyright © 1998 DataQuick Information Systems.
All rights reserved.

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