DQNews Archived Article

Southland Home Sales Up

by Real Estate Analyst John Karevoll
September, 2000

La Jolla, CA.— The rising sales rate of homes in Southern California was back in place in August, indicating that July's significant dip was not the start of a downward trend, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 28,739 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 18.5 percent from 24,261 for July, and up 3.4 percent from 27,787 for August last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Last month's sales total was the most for any calendar month of August since 1989 when 32,145 homes were sold. While year-over-year sales have increased 55 of the last 60 months, the July count was down 15.8 percent. So far this year 201,672 Southland homes have been sold, up 0.7 percent from 200,367 for the first eight months of 1999.

"While there are concerns about a lack of homes on the market right now, it does look like July's sales decline was just a hiccup. As prices continue to rise, more homes will come on to the market," said Mike Ela, DataQuick's president.

The median price paid for a home was $211,000 last month. That was up 2.9 percent from $205,000 for July, and up 8.2 percent from $195,000 for August last year.

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.

Because of an increase in entry-level home buying, the rise in median currently understates the appreciation rate, which is now around 10 percent, DataQuick reported.