DQNews Archived Article

Bay Area Home Prices Jump

by Real Estate Analyst John Karevoll
November, 2000

La Jolla, CA.— Bay Area home prices jumped to another record in October, proving wrong predictions that prices would level off at the end of the year. Sales counts remained high, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 6,737 resale houses were sold in the nine-county Bay Area last month. That was virtually equal to September's 6,734, and up 0.2 percent from 6,725 for October last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Last month's sales count was the highest for any October in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988. So far this year 63,887 resale houses have been sold in the Bay Area, down 5.7 percent from 67,746 for the same ten-month period last year.

"We're surprised. We expected sales counts to be down slightly. The demand is there, now it looks like more potential sellers are putting their homes on the market. They probably like the prices being paid," said Mike Ela, DataQuick's president.

The median price paid for a resale Bay Area house was $385,000. That was up 3.8 percent from $371,000 for September, and up 26.2 percent from $305,000 for October last year. The year-over-year jump is the strongest DataQuick has on record.

DataQuick, a business unit of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates, monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.

Sales of resale houses statewide totaled an estimated 32,550 last month, up 3.4 percent from 31,492 for October last year. The statewide median was $211,000, up 14.4 percent from $184,500 last year, DataQuick reported.

Resale houses