DQNews Archived Article

Bay Area Home Sales Up

by Real Estate Analyst John Karevoll
February, 2000

La Jolla, CA.— Despite rising interest rates, home sales in the Bay Area increased slightly in January, the result of a booming economy and high consumer confidence. Prices showed their highest jump in ten years, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 4,307 resale houses were sold in the nine-county region last month. That was down 32.1 percent from December's 6,343 and up 2.1 percent from 4,217 for January last year, according to DataQuick.

A decline from December to January is normal for the season. Last month was the strongest January since 1989 when 4,962 resale houses were sold.

"It's a strong start for the new century and it shows that potential home buyers are feeling good about their circumstances. Sometimes people will put off buying when interest rates rise, while at other times the fence-sitters will jump into the market. It looks like the latter outnumbered the former last month," said Mike Ela, president of DataQuick.

The median price paid for a resale house was $319,000 last month. That was the same as the month before, and it was up 16.0 percent from $275,000 for January last year. The 16.0 percent increase was the strongest year-over-year increase since January 1990 when it went up 16.8 percent to $243,000 from $208,000.

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

The cost of owning a Bay Area home has now passed the peak of ten years ago. Assuming the median price, a 20-percent down payment, and a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, a typical mortgage payment last month would have been $1,850, up from $1,795 in December. The prior peak was in March of 1990 at $1,828, DataQuick reported.

Resale houses