Robust February for Bay Area Home Sales

March 18, 2004

La Jolla, CA.----Bay Area home prices rose at their fastest rate in nearly three years and sales were at near-record levels last month, the result of continued demand and an accommodating mortgage finance environment, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 7,412 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region in February. That was up 4.4 percent from 7,102 the month before and up 10.6 percent from 6,704 for February last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Last month was the second strongest February DataQuick has in its records, which go back to 1988. The strongest was February 2000 when sales totaled 7,507.

"This just goes to show that buyers will buy if they can buy, despite sticker shock. Mortgage interest rates haven't gone up as was predicted a few months ago. And lenders are making loans to households they wouldn't have five or ten years ago," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $457,000 last month, near December's record $458,000. Last month's median was up 3.2 percent from $443,000 in January and up 13.4 percent from $403,000 for February last year. The year-over-year increase was the highest since March 2001 when the median was $386,000, up 17.3 percent from $329,000 a year earlier.

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 $2,008 in February. A year ago it was $1,836. The peak was in May 2000 at $2,124.

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

All Homes	No Sold Feb-03	No Sold Feb-04	Pct. Chg	Median Feb-03	Median Feb-04	Pct. Chg
Alameda	1,436	1,497	4.2%	$396K	$429K	8.3%
Contra Costa	1,413	1,465	3.7%	$347K	$403K	16.1%
Marin	230	256	11.3%	$553K	$641K	15.9%
Napa	137	136	-0.7%	$361K	$469K	29.9%
San Francisco	379	485	28.0%	$543K	$575K	5.9%
San Mateo	452	576	27.4%	$523K	$567K	8.4%
Santa Clara	1,450	1,865	28.6%	$456K	$490K	7.5%
Solano	622	575	-7.6%	$270K	$329K	21.9%
Sonoma	585	557	-4.8%	$336K	$390K	16.1%
Bay Area	6,704	7,412	10.6%	$403K	$457K	13.4%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems, www.DQNews.com

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