Strong Bay Area Home Sales, Prices Stable in December

January 24, 2003

La Jolla, CA.--Bay Area home sales were up in December, the result of strong entry-level and mid-market demand. Home prices in the region are leveling off, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 8,987 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region last month. That was up 8.7 percent from 8,265 for November, and up 16.3 percent from 7,725 for December a year ago, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

An increase from November to December is normal for the season. A total of 111,915 homes were sold in all of 2002, up 22.1 percent from 91,640 in 2001.

"The move-up and prestige markets are seeing somewhat slower activity now than they were last summer. The slack is being picked up by home sales in lower-cost neighborhoods. Today's low interest rates are a big part of this," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $416,000 last month. That was the same as November, and was up 10.3 percent from $377,000 for December last year. The Bay Area median hit $416,000 in June and has remained around that level since, in part because increased sales in lower-cost neighborhoods "tug" the median down.

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. Because of some gaps in data availability, the sales counts for several counties are extrapolated.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,913 in December. A year ago it was $1,952. The peak was in May 2000 at $2,124.

All Homes	No Sold Dec-01	No Sold Dec-02	Pct. Chg	Median Dec-01	Median Dec-02	Pct. Chg
Alameda	1,589	1,713	7.8%	$366K	$404K	10.4%
Contra Costa	1,571	1,843	17.3%	$308K	$364K	18.2%
Marin	286	362	26.6%	$518K	$554K	6.9%
Napa	213	202	-5.2%	$331K	$389K	17.5%
San Francisco	431	559	29.7%	$500K	$546K	9.2%
San Mateo	677	732	8.1%	$501K	$518K	3.4%
Santa Clara	1,624	2,039	25.6%	$435K	$451K	3.7%
Solano	704	786	11.6%	$242K	$290K	19.8%
Sonoma	630	751	19.2%	$310K	$343K	10.6%
Bay Area	7,725	8,987	16.3%	$377K	$416K	10.3%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems, www.DQNews.com

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