Bay Area Home Sales Down, Prices Drop

November 26, 2001

La Jolla, CA--Bay Area home sales declined on a year-over-year basis for the fourteenth month in a row in October as the median price dropped for the first time in six years.

A total of 7,867 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region last month. That was up 9.2 percent from 7,201 for September, and down 19.6 percent from 9,789 for October last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

The last time sales rose on a year-over-year basis was in August 2000. Last month's sales count of 7,867 was very close to an average of 7,825 for all Octobers the last 14 years. So far this year 77,271 Bay Area homes have been sold, down 17.3 percent from 93,423 for the first ten months of last year.

"Today's Bay Area market is actually pretty normal. The market in 1999 and 2000 was overly rambunctious. We expect the Bay Area market to stay on an even keel through the rest of the year and on into 2002," said Mike Ela, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $366,000 last month. That was down 1.9 percent from $373,000 in September, and down 0.8 percent from $369,000 for October a year ago. The last year-over- year decline was in September 1996 when prices dipped 0.9 percent to $221,000 from $223,000 a year earlier. The median peaked at $386,000 last March.

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 $235,000 in October. That was the same as September and up 9.0 percent from $215,500 for October a year ago, DataQuick reported.

During the last five years, home prices statewide have increased 52.6 percent from $154,000 to $235,000. The Bay Area median has increased 64.1 percent from $223,000 to last month's $366,000.

All Homes	No Sold Oct-00	No Sold Oct-01	Pct. Change	Median Oct-00	Median Oct-01	Pct. Change
Alameda	2,124	1,632	-23.2%	$352K	$351K	-0.3%
Contra Costa	1,982	1,652	-16.6%	$276K	$303K	9.8%
Marin	325	314	-3.4%	$513K	$457K	-10.9%
Napa	163	179	9.8%	$282K	$329K	16.7%
San Francisco	518	392	-24.3%	$489K	$490K	0.2%
San Mateo	745	635	-14.8%	$506K	$484K	-4.3%
Santa Clara	2,309	1,660	-28.1%	$459K	$431K	-6.1%
Solano	777	726	-6.6%	$210K	$242K	15.2%
Sonoma	848	677	-20.2%	$292K	$313K	7.2%
Bay Area	9,789	7,867	-19.6%	$369K	$366K	-0.8%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems

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