Bay Area Home Sales Strong, Prices Up in January

February 23, 2001

Bay Area home sales showed surprising strength in January, with solid sales and continued price increases, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 4,153 resale houses were sold in the nine-county region last month. That was down 24.4 percent from 5,490 for December, and down 3.8 percent from 4,315 for January last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

A steep decline from December to January is normal for the season. Last month's sales count was the third strongest for any January on record, behind 2000, and behind January 1989 when 4,962 resale houses were sold.

"We're watching the market carefully for signs of the predicted slowdown, but so far all we've found is a bit of leveling off. We do expect the Bay Area's steep price increases to settle down a bit this spring," said Mike Ela, DataQuick's president.

The median price paid for a resale Bay Area house was $387,000 last month. That was up 3.5 percent from December's $374,000 and up 21.3 percent from $319,000 for January last year. November's median of $390,000 stands as the highest so far, although the $400,000 threshold will probably be crossed in March or April, DataQuick reported.

DataQuick, a subsidiary 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.

The statewide sales count for resale houses was 22,725 last month, up 6.9 percent from 21,256 for January last year. Last month's median was $200,000, up 8.1 percent from $185,000 a year ago.

Resale houses

All Homes	No Sold Jan-00	No Sold Jan-01	Pct. Change	Median Jan-00	Median Jan-01	Pct. Change
Alameda	853	847	-0.7%	$281K	$335K	19.2%
Contra Costa	767	703	-8.3%	$239K	$279K	16.7%
Marin	185	164	-11.4%	$415K	$612K	47.5%
Napa	78	85	9.0%	$222K	$281K	26.6%
San Francisco	253	211	-16.6%	$400K	$499K	24.8%
San Mateo	393	360	-8.4%	$428K	$575K	34.3%
Santa Clara	1,087	945	-13.1%	$408K	$505K	23.8%
Solano	335	431	28.7%	$165K	$200K	21.2%
Sonoma	364	407	11.8%	$248K	$312K	25.8%
Bay Area Total	4,315	4,153	-3.8%	$319K	$387K	21.3%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems

For more information call John Karevoll (909)867-9534

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