Bay Area Home Sales Up, Prices Flat in March

April 22, 2002

La Jolla, CA--Home sales in the Bay Area jumped back to the levels of two years ago as prices regained most of their declines of recent months.

A total of 10,416 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region last month. That was up 42.7 percent from 7,298 for February, and up 22.9 percent from 8,473 for March a year ago, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

An increase from February to March is normal for the season. Last month's sales count was the third strongest March in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988. Sales in March 2000 totaled 10,432 and the sales count in March 1989 sales was 11,442. Sales have now gone up three months in a row on a year-over-year basis, the first time since late 1999.

"Today's Bay Area numbers are a lot more solid than they were two years ago. Home values are sturdy across the board, sales are strong in all categories and buyers do not appear to be stretching their finances more than normal. Current trends will probably stay with us through the summer and on into fall," said Mike Ela, DataQuick's president.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $381,000 last month. That was up 2.1 percent from $373,000 in February, and down 1.3 percent from $386,000 for March a year ago, the all-time high.

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.

All Homes	No Sold Mar-01	No Sold Mar-02	Pct. Chg	Median Mar-01	Median Mar-02	Pct. Chg
Alameda	1,852	2,188	18.1%	$385K	$363K	-5.7%
Contra Costa	1,777	2,107	18.6%	$296K	$303K	2.4%
Marin	301	396	31.6%	$527K	$538K	2.1%
Napa	162	232	43.2%	$300K	$323K	7.7%
San Francisco	394	566	43.7%	$565K	$515K	-8.8%
San Mateo	715	929	29.9%	$521K	$503K	-3.5%
Santa Clara	1,769	2,304	30.2%	$474K	$441K	-7.0%
Solano	771	856	11.0%	$222K	$240K	8.1%
Sonoma	727	838	15.3%	$306K	$316K	3.3%
Bay Area	8,473	10,416	22.9%	$386K	$381K	-1.3%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems, www.DQNews.com

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