Southland Home Sales Strong in November

December 19, 2002

La Jolla,CA----A November surge in sales and another jump in prices showed that Southland home sales are going to wait a while before taking the breather that some analysts anticipate.

A total of 25,601 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 11.9 percent from 29,048 for the month before, and up 12.3 percent from 22,795 for November last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

A decline from October to November is normal for the season. So far this year 310,099 homes have been sold in Southern California, the strongest for the January-to-November period since 1989 when 313,103 were sold. Sales levels were up most in the Inland Empire counties and in affordable neighborhoods elsewhere.

"It's really quite simple. Demand still exceeds supply. With today's low mortgage interest rates we can expect moderate price increases well into 2003," said John Karevoll, DataQuick analyst.

The median price that Southland buyers paid for a home was $288,000 last month, a record. That was up 3.6 percent from $278,000 for October, and up 21.0 percent from $238,000 for November last year. The 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 $1,326 in November. A year ago it was $1,192. The all-time peak was April 1989 at $1,360 when interest rates were higher, DataQuick reported.

All Homes	No Sold Nov-01	No Sold Nov-02	Pct. Chg	Median Nov-01	Median Nov-02	Pct. Chg
Los Angeles	8,192	9,098	11.1%	$230K	$281K	22.2%
Orange County	3,603	3,715	3.1%	$322K	$383K	18.9%
San Diego	3,489	4,034	15.6%	$274K	$349K	27.4%
Riverside	3,318	4,254	28.2%	$192K	$228K	18.8%
San Bernardino	2,939	3,136	6.7%	$148K	$175K	18.2%
Ventura	1,254	1,364	8.8%	$291K	$343K	17.9%
So. California	22,795	25,601	12.3%	$238K	$288K	21.0%

Source: DQNews.com

Media Inquiries: John Karevoll (909) 867-9534

Copyright © 2002 DataQuick Information Systems.
All rights reserved.