Bay Area Home Sales Surge, Prices Jump in May

June 24, 2002

La Jolla, CA--Bay Area home sales stayed strong last month as prices moved to new highs, the result of reasonable mortgage interest rates and steady demand, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 11,238 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region last month. That was up 4.4 percent from 10,768 for April, and up 42.9 percent from 7,864 for May a year ago, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Last month's sales count was the strongest May since 1989 when 11,526 homes were sold.

So far this year 46,710 homes have been sold, up 31.4 percent from 35,531 last year. The sales count for the first five months of 1999 was 45,581 and in 1989 it was 48,228.

"Year-ago Bay Area sales were in a lull. Prices leveled off too. Now that the regional market has regained its balance, sales and appreciation rates are in line with what we're seeing in the rest of the state," said Mike Ela, DataQuick's president.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $413,000 last month. That was up 2.7 percent from $402,000 in April, and up 9.0 percent from $379,000 for May a year ago. This month's median is a new record as was last month’s.

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 typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying was $2,075 in May. A year ago it was $1,991. The all-time high was May 2000 at $2,124 when interest rates were higher, DataQuick reported.

All Homes	No Sold May-01	No Sold May-02	Pct. Chg	Median May-01	Median May-02	Pct. Chg
Alameda	1,705	2,260	32.6%	$364K	$391K	7.4%
Contra Costa	1,554	2,232	43.6%	$306K	$345K	12.7%
Marin	304	460	51.3%	$563K	$588K	4.4%
Napa	166	208	25.3%	$340K	$345K	1.5%
San Francisco	446	662	48.4%	$520K	$571K	9.8%
San Mateo	648	980	51.2%	$504K	$532K	5.6%
Santa Clara	1,548	2,559	65.3%	$448K	$461K	2.9%
Solano	776	906	16.8%	$228K	$265K	16.2%
Sonoma	717	971	35.4%	$315K	$339K	7.6%
Bay Area	7,864	11,238	42.9%	$379K	$413K	9.0%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems, www.DQNews.com

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