DQNews Archived Article

Southland Home Prices Up, Sales Up

by Real Estate Analyst John Karevoll
March, 2000

La Jolla, CA.— Reversing a January dip, the number of homes sold in Southern California last month resumed the upward trend of recent years. Prices also continued to increase at a sustainable rate, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 19,977 new and resale houses and condos were sold in Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties last month. That was up 20.0 percent from 16,650 for the month before, and up 6.5 percent from 18,761 for February last year, according to DataQuick.

Last month's sales count was the highest for any February since 1989 when 21,963 homes were sold. As was the case in the late 1980s, Riverside and San Bernardino counties account for an increasing portion of the region's sales activity. The Inland Empire counties accounted for 25.8 percent of last month's Southland sales, the highest level since 26.9 percent in January 1990.

"We thought sales counts would level off with the higher mortgage interest rates, but that doesn't appear to be happening, at least not yet. What the uptick in rates may have done is nudge reticent buyers into the market," said Mike Ela, president of DataQuick Products.

The median price paid for a home was $197,000 last month. That was up 1.0 percent from $195,000 for January, and up 8.8 percent from $181,000 for February a year ago.

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