Bay Area Home Sales Down, Prices Leveling Off

July 25, 2001

La Jolla, CA--Bay Area home sales dropped from their year-ago levels for the seventh straight month in June, the result of buyer reluctance, especially in expensive neighborhoods.

A total of 9,011 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region last month. That was up 14.6 percent from 7,864 in May and down 17.0 percent from 10,851 for June last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

June sales counts have varied from 6,603 in 1993 to 11,951 in 1988.

"We're not seeing price declines, at least not yet. But there is a decline in sales of up-market homes. What's actually happening is that the Bay Area real estate market is rejoining the rest of the world, becoming more balanced and normal. It's the market a year ago that was atypical," said Mike Ela, DataQuick's president.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $381,000 last month. That was up 0.5 percent from May's $379,000 and up 8.5 percent from $351,000 for the same month a year ago.

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 median price paid for a home statewide was $226,000, up 2.7 percent from $220,000 in May, and up 8.1 percent from $209,000 for June a year ago, DataQuick reported.

Note to editors: Starting with June's numbers, the monthly DataQuick statistics include all homes, not just resale houses.

All Houses

All Homes	No Sold June-00	No Sold June-01	Pct. Change	Median June-00	Median June-01	Pct. Change
Alameda	2,259	1,932	-14.5%	$331K	$386K	16.6%
Contra Costa	2,282	1,872	-18.0%	$268K	$305K	13.8%
Marin	444	353	-20.5%	$506K	$538K	6.3%
Napa	185	148	-20.0%	$266K	$305K	14.7%
San Francisco	549	464	-15.5%	$504K	$520K	3.2%
San Mateo	857	713	-16.8%	$464K	$508K	9.5%
Santa Clara	2,376	1,849	-22.2%	$440K	$444K	0.9%
Solano	853	868	1.8%	$189K	$238K	25.9%
Sonoma	1,037	792	-23.6%	$283K	$313K	10.6%
Bay Area	10,851	9,011	-17.0%	$351K	$381K	8.5%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems

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