DQNews Archived Article

Record Bay Area Home Sales

by Real Estate Analyst John Karevoll
December, 2000

La Jolla, CA.— The Bay Area residential real estate market experienced a moderate sales and price surge in November as an increasing number of home buyers moved to complete their purchases before the end of the year, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 5,991 resale houses were sold in the nine-county Bay Area last month. That was down 11.1 percent from 6,742 for October, and up 17.6 percent from 5,093 for November last year, according to DataQuick.

On a year-over-year basis, sales in the region have increased 50 of the last 52 months. So far this year 73,819 resale houses have been sold in the Bay Area. That was up 11.6 percent from 66,141 for the first eleven months of last year, and is an all-time high for the eleven-month period.

"While sales of prestige homes in high-end neighborhoods get a lot of attention, we have to remember that sales and price increases are taking place across the board. For every Bay Area home that's selling for more than half a million dollars, five are selling for less," said Mike Ela, president of DataQuick.

The median price paid for a resale house surged to $316,000 in November, a record high. That median was up 3.6 percent from $305,000 in October, and up 15.3 percent from $274,000 for November last year. The year-to-date median is $300,000, up 9.9 percent from $273,000 for 1998.

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