New Records for Southland Home Prices in August

September 19, 2002

La Jolla,CA--Home prices in Southern California edged up to a new peak as sales showed no signs of a slowdown.

A total of 30,732 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 0.4 percent from 30,609 for the month before, and down 5.1 percent from 32,386 for August last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

The year-ago number was the highest since the late 1980s. So far this year 229,234 homes have been sold, up 11.9 percent from 204,848 for the same eight-month period last year. The current year-to-date number is the highest that DataQuick has in its statistics, which go back to 1988. The previous high was in 1989 when 227,818 were sold. Current sales are particularly strong in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

"Last month would probably have been record-breaking if it weren't for all the refinance activity. Lending institutions, appraisers and title companies are processing paperwork as fast as they can, but some closings are being bumped a week or two and will show up in next month's statistics," said Mike Ela, DataQuick president.

The median price that Southland buyers paid for a home was $278,000 last month, a new peak. That was up 2.2 percent from $272,000 for July, and up 17.3 percent from $237,000 for August last year. That year-over-year increase was the strongest since the late 1980s.

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 $1,311 in August. 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 Aug-01	No Sold Aug-02	Pct. Chg	Median Aug-01	Median Aug-02	Pct. Chg
Los Angeles	12,324	10,808	-12.3%	$231K	$267K	15.6%
Orange County	5,100	4,678	-8.3%	$308K	$370K	20.1%
San Diego	5,181	5,125	-1.1%	$274K	$339K	23.7%
Riverside	4,396	4,801	9.2%	$185K	$215K	16.2%
San Bernardino	3,637	3,622	-0.4%	$150K	$160K	6.7%
Ventura	1,748	1,698	-2.9%	$280K	$334K	19.3%
So. California	32,386	30,732	-5.1%	$237K	$278K	17.3%

Source: DQNews.com

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