Bay Area Home Sales, Prices Steady in February

March 21, 2003

La Jolla, CA.--Bay Area home sales were brisk, but not record- breaking last month as annual price increases stayed in the single digits.

A total of 6,704 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region last month. That was down 3.5 percent from 6,944 for January, and down 8.7 percent from 7,298 for February a year ago, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

February is normally the slowest sales month of the year. The year-ago sales count was the second highest for any February in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988.

"The war on Iraq probably won't have much short-term effect on home sales. There may be some deferred activity week to week, but the market will catch back up. The long-term effects of the war's cost and the larger federal budget deficit are something different altogether," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $403,000 last month. That was down 0.2 percent from $404,000 in January and was up 8.0 percent from $373,000 for February last year. The peak of $417,000 was reached in July of last year, and current trends indicate that prices will be back in record territory in April or May.

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 Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,836 in February. A year ago it was $1,880. The peak was in May 2000 at $2,124.

Bay Area home values have increased 96.6 percent during the last ten years. The increase for the state as a whole is 75.0 percent.

All Homes	No Sold Feb-02	No Sold Feb-03	Pct. Chg	Median Feb-02	Median Feb-03	Pct. Chg
Alameda	1,588	1,436	-9.6%	$357K	$396K	10.9%
Contra Costa	1,356	1,413	4.2%	$297K	$347K	16.8%
Marin	254	230	-9.4%	$537K	$553K	3.0%
Napa	206	137	-33.5%	$324K	$361K	11.4%
San Francisco	375	379	1.1%	$504K	$543K	7.7%
San Mateo	598	452	-24.4%	$487K	$523K	7.4%
Santa Clara	1,705	1,450	-15.0%	$436K	$456K	4.6%
Solano	641	622	-3.0%	$243K	$270K	11.1%
Sonoma	575	585	1.7%	$302K	$336K	11.3%
Bay Area	7,298	6,704	-8.1%	$373K	$403K	8.0%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems, www.DQNews.com

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