DQNews Archived Article

Southland Home Sales Strong

by Real Estate Analyst John Karevoll
June, 1999

La Jolla, CA.— Home prices continued to rise in Southern California in May as sales counts leveled off, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 25,614 new and resale houses and condos were sold in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties in May. That was down 5.0 percent from 26,968 for the month before and up 2.0 percent from 25,117 for May a year ago, according to DataQuick Products Division.

Home sales for the region have increased on a year-over-year basis for the past 41 months. Last month's sales count was the highest for any May since 1989 when 30,820 homes were sold.

"The uptick in mortgage interest rates hasn't affected sales yet. Purchase activity is strong in all categories and in all geographic areas. Buyers are walking away from overpriced properties and there is no sign of the frenzy we had 10 years ago," said Mike Ela, leader of DataQuick Products Division.

Southern California continues to experience double-digit home value increases. The median square-foot price paid for a resale house was $134 in May, up 12.6 percent from $119 a year ago. The median price paid for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom 1,400 sq.ft. resale house was $177,000, up 14.2 percent from $155,000 a year ago.

DataQuick Products Division monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts. The sales counts are estimated for San Bernardino County because of incomplete data for May.

The overall median was $193,000 in May, up 3.8 percent from $186,000 a year ago. Although last month's median was an all-time high, the year-over-year increase understates the rise in home values because shifts in market mix, DataQuick reported.

Resale Houses