Strong Bay Area Home Sales, Prices Stable in January

February 20, 2003

La Jolla, CA.--Bay Area home sales got a strong start in January as buyers took advantage of stable prices and low mortgage interest rates, especially in entry-level markets.

A total of 6,944 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region last month. That was down 22.7 percent from 8,987 for December, and down 0.7 percent from 6,990 for January a year ago, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

A significant decline from December to January is normal for the season. The year-ago January sales count was particularly strong, the highest in over a decade.

"Homes in prestige markets are taking longer to sell, but homes in mid- and entry-level markets are selling fast. We don't see anything in our statistics that would indicate that the market is due for any change in the immediate future," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $404,000 last month. That was down 2.9 percent from $416,000 in December and was up 8.9 percent from $371,000 for January 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. 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 $1,865 in January. A year ago it was $1,878. The peak was in May 2000 at $2,124.

All Homes	No Sold Jan-02	No Sold Jan-03	Pct. Chg	Median Jan-02	Median Jan-03	Pct. Chg
Alameda	1,478	1,471	-0.5%	$358K	$392K	9.5%
Contra Costa	1,319	1,392	5.5%	$309K	$355K	14.9%
Marin	259	269	3.9%	$502K	$535K	6.6%
Napa	163	132	-19.0%	$309K	$405K	31.1%
San Francisco	375	367	-2.1%	$497K	$539K	8.5%
San Mateo	581	541	-6.9%	$478K	$507K	6.1%
Santa Clara	1,635	1,510	-7.6%	$426K	$447K	4.9%
Solano	601	658	9.5%	$238K	$276K	16.0%
Sonoma	579	604	4.3%	$297K	$343K	15.5%
Bay Area	6,990	6,944	-0.7%	$371K	$404K	8.9%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems, www.DQNews.com

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