New peaks for Southland Prices in December
January 23, 2001
La Jolla,CA--Southland home prices ended the year at a new
peak, the result of tight inventory and reasonable mortgage rates.
Sales counts were slightly behind year-ago levels as stretched-out
escrows put some closings off for a few weeks.
A total of 24,913 new and resale houses and condos were sold in
Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange
counties last month. That was up 9.3 percent from 22,795 for the
month before, and down 1.6 percent from 25,323 for December last
year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
"A surge of refinance activity strained industry resources in
December and probably nudged quite a few December sales into
January," said Mike Ela, DataQuick president.
"While a lot of the purchasing activity has been in entry-level
markets the last few months, it appears that many move-up buyers got
back into the market towards the end of the year. Many of those were
buyers who had put their plans on hold after 911. Their activity,
along with the regular year-end surge of new home sales, pushed
December's median to a new peak in all Southland counties," Ela said.
The number of newly-built homes sold was 5,053 in December, the
highest since 5,482 were sold in December 1989.
The median price paid for a Southland home was $247,000 last
month. That was up 3.8 percent from $238,000 for November, and up
12.3 percent from $220,000 for December last year. That year-over-
year increase was the strongest since July 1989 when prices rose 14.7
percent to $179,000 from $156,000 a year earlier.
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 mortgage payment that Southland buyers committed
themselves to paying was $1,279 in December. A year ago it was
$1,151. The all-time peak was April 1989 at $1,360, DataQuick
reported.
| All Homes |
No Sold
Dec-00 |
No Sold
Dec-01 |
Pct.
Change |
Median
Dec-00 |
Median
Dec-01 |
Pct.
Change |
| Los Angeles |
8,962 |
8,788 |
-1.9% |
$205K |
$233K |
13.7% |
|
Orange County |
4,147 |
3,888 |
-6.2% |
$292K |
$332K |
13.7% |
|
San Diego |
4,278 |
4,093 |
-4.3% |
$259K |
$286K |
10.4% |
|
Riverside |
3,453 |
3,630 |
5.1% |
$170K |
$200K |
17.6% |
|
San Bernardino |
3,007 |
3,154 |
4.9% |
$148K |
$159K |
7.4% |
|
Ventura |
1,476 |
1,360 |
-7.9% |
$263K |
$304K |
15.6% |
|
So. California |
25,323 |
24,913 |
-1.6% |
$220K |
$247K |
12.3% |
Source: DQNews.com
Media Inquiries: John Karevoll (909)867-9534