Record Bay Area Home Prices

July 23, 2003

La Jolla, CA.--Home sales in the Bay Area remained brisk last month as prices crept up to a new peak, the result of continued low mortgage interest rates and steady demand, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 10,492 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region last month. That was down 1.0 percent from 10,603 in May and up 4.3 percent from 10,056 for June a year ago. Last month was the first time this year that year-over-year sales in the Bay Area showed an increase, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

So far this year 53,565 homes have been sold in the region, down 5.6 percent from 56,766 for the first half of last year.

"There's nothing in our statistics that would indicate any change in Bay Area trends the next few months. Buyers are being prudent, and modest price increases have been offset by low mortgage interest rates. If anything, there may be an uptick in sales between now and fall," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $443,000 last month, a new high. That was up 3.7 percent from $427,000 in May, and was up 6.5 percent from $416,000 for June last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

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 $1,860 in June. A year ago it was $2,052. The peak was in May 2000 at $2,124.

Indicators of market distress are still absent. Foreclosure rates are low, flipping rates are low, adjustable-rate mortgage usage is low, down payment sizes are stable and there have been no significant shifts in market mix, DataQuick reported.

All Homes	No Sold Jun-02	No Sold Jun-03	Pct. Chg	Median Jun-02	Median Jun-03	Pct. Chg
Alameda	1,982	2,281	15.1%	$396K	$424K	7.1%
Contra Costa	1,995	2,118	6.2%	$345K	$384K	11.3%
Marin	366	435	18.9%	$611K	$636K	4.1%
Napa	209	185	-11.5%	$360K	$419K	16.4%
San Francisco	592	617	4.2%	$567K	$563K	-0.7%
San Mateo	857	803	-6.3%	$538K	$567K	5.4%
Santa Clara	2,284	2,284	0.0%	$468K	$487K	4.1%
Solano	887	950	7.1%	$267K	$302K	13.1%
Sonoma	884	819	-7.4%	$346K	$376K	8.7%
Bay Area	10,056	10,492	4.3%	$416K	$443K	6.5%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems, www.DQNews.com

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