DQNews Archived Article

Southland Home Sales Up

by Real Estate Analyst John Karevoll
July, 2000

La Jolla, CA.— Southland home sales edged up to their highest level in more than ten years, the result of a growing economy and increased sales of entry-level homes, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 30,346 new and resale houses and condos were sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was up 8.5 percent from 27,968 for May before and up 4.4 percent from 29,076 for June last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Last month's sales count was the highest for the region since 32,145 homes were sold in August 1989.

"It's clear that the effects of the growing economy outweigh the effects of higher mortgage interest rates, at least so far. The current surge of entry-level buying could go on for quite a while. More homes are coming on the market as prices move up," said Mike Ela, DataQuick's president.

The median price paid for a Southland home was $210,000 last month, up 3.4 percent from May's $203,000, and up 6.1 percent from $198,000 for June a year ago. Last month's median was the highest on record, the previous peak of $204,000 was reached in March. Because of the increase in entry-level home buying, the rise in median currently understates the appreciation rate, which is now around 10 percent.

DataQuick, which is now 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.