Bay Area Home Sales Down, Prices Leveling Off

May 23, 2001

La Jolla, CA --The number of homes sold in the Bay Area dropped again in April as potential buyers of expensive homes put their purchase plans on hold. Price increases dropped into single digits for the first time in a year-and-a-half, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 5,208 resale houses were sold in the nine-county region last month. That was down 5.4 percent from 5,503 in March and down 15.8 percent from 6,182 for April last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

The year-over-year decrease was the fifth in a row. The sales drop-off was most pronounced in expensive markets, especially those in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

"We've heard people talk about the bottom dropping out of the market, but that's an exaggeration. It was clear a year ago that price increases, especially in high-tech boom areas, were unsustainable. What we're seeing is the inevitable correction. We expect a more normal market through this summer and fall," said Mike Ela, DataQuick's president.

The median price paid for a resale Bay Area house was $394,000 last month, the same as March's record high. The April median was up 9.4 percent from $360,000 for the same month a year ago, DataQuick reported.

The 9.4 percent increase in median was the first time since September 1999 that home prices went up less than ten percent on a year-over-year basis. In six of the last twelve months the increase was over twenty percent.

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.

Resale houses

All Homes	No Sold April-00	No Sold April-01	Pct. Change	Median April-00	Median April-01	Pct. Change
Alameda	1,186	1,025	-13.6%	$315K	$367K	16.5%
Contra Costa	1,197	1,010	-15.6%	$262K	$297K	13.4%
Marin	256	192	-25.0%	$557K	$669K	20.1%
Napa	125	115	-8.0%	$230K	$293K	27.4%
San Francisco	297	244	-17.8%	$483K	$550K	13.9%
San Mateo	530	382	-27.9%	$515K	$532K	3.3%
Santa Clara	1,406	1,174	-16.5%	$480K	$500K	4.2%
Solano	540	535	-0.9%	$179K	$223K	24.6%
Sonoma	645	531	-17.7%	$275K	$324K	17.8%
Bay Area Total	6,182	5,208	-15.8%	$360K	$394K	9.4%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems

Media Inquiries: John Karevoll (909)867-9534

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