Steady Surge in Southland Home Buying

August 19, 2002

La Jolla,CA--Southern California home sales continued last month at their fastest pace since the late 1980s, the result of steady demand and reasonable mortgage interest rates.

A total of 30,609 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 1.9 percent from 30,038 for the month before, and up 5.8 percent from 28,944 for July last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Last month's sales count was the highest for any July since 1988 when 32,136 homes were sold. So far this year 198,502 homes have been sold, the most that DataQuick has in its statistics, which go back to 1988. The previous high for the seven-month period was in 1989 when 195,673 were sold.

"With prices continuing to go up, we're starting to see more homes coming on to the market. We expect inventory to build up in expensive neighborhoods first, those were the first to see price and sales increases a few years ago," said Mike Ela, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Southland home was $272,000 last month. That was down 0.4 percent from $273,000 for June, and up 16.2 percent from $234,000 for July last year.

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 $1,310 in July. A year ago it was $1,220. The all-time peak was April 1989 at $1,360 when interest rates were higher, DataQuick reported.

All Homes	No Sold Jul-01	No Sold Jul-02	Pct. Chg	Median Jul-01	Median Jul-02	Pct. Chg
Los Angeles	10,825	10,889	0.6%	$231K	$266K	15.2%
Orange County	4,295	4,664	8.6%	$303K	$360K	18.8%
San Diego	4,913	4,962	1.0%	$267K	$333K	24.7%
Riverside	4,106	4,730	15.2%	$184K	$208K	13.0%
San Bernardino	3,229	3,743	15.9%	$145K	$160K	10.3%
Ventura	1,576	1,621	2.9%	$275K	$331K	20.4%
So. California	28,944	30,609	5.8%	$234K	$272K	16.2%

Source: DQNews.com

Media Inquiries: John Karevoll (909) 867-9534

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