New Price Peak for Southland Homes

July 19, 2002

La Jolla,CA--While sales counts flattened out at a high level last month, prices rose to new peaks at their fastest pace in thirteen years, the result of tight supply and moderate mortgage interest rates, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 30,038 new and resale houses and condos were sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was down 7.3 percent from 32,391 for the month before, and virtually unchanged from 30,047 for June last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

May sales were the highest since June 1989. So far this year 167,893 Southern California homes have been sold, up 17.0 percent from 143,518 for the same period last year, and the most since 169,026 were sold during the first half of 1989.

"Last month's sales could easily have been twenty percent higher if supply weren't so tight. The number of homes on the market is very low. We expect more homes to come on to the market as prices increase," said Mike Ela, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Southland home was $273,000 last month, a new record. That was up 3.4 percent from $264,000 for May, and up 17.2 percent from $233,000 for June last year. That year-over- year increase was the highest since May 1989 when the $176,000 median was up 22.2 percent from $144,000 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 monthly mortgage payment that Southland buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,347 in June. A year ago it was $1,205. The all-time peak was April 1989 at $1,360 when interest rates were higher, DataQuick reported.

All Homes	No Sold Jun-01	No Sold Jun-02	Pct. Chg	Median Jun-01	Median Jun-02	Pct. Chg
Los Angeles	11,159	10,753	-3.6%	$228K	$269K	18.0%
Orange County	4,389	4,792	9.2%	$301K	$359K	19.3%
San Diego	5,085	4,960	-2.5%	$271K	$323K	19.2%
Riverside	4,260	4,665	9.5%	$185K	$206K	11.4%
San Bernardino	3,424	3,310	-3.3%	$145K	$159K	9.7%
Ventura	1,730	1,558	-9.9%	$277K	$335K	20.9%
So. California	30,047	30,038	0.0%	$233K	$273K	17.2%

Source: DQNews.com

Media Inquiries: John Karevoll (909) 867-9534

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