Near Record Bay Area Home Sales

August 19, 2004

La Jolla, CA.----While July home sales in the Bay Area eased back a notch from June's record-breaking pace, last month was the second strongest month of the past sixteen years, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 12,862 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region in July. That was down 8.8 percent from 14,104 in June, and up 11.8 percent from 11,501 for July last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

The June sales count was the highest for any month in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988. Last month's sales count was ahead of the previous peak of 12,488 in August last year.

"Because of expected interest rate increases, the market has been pulling future activity into the present. Along with an increased number of homes for sale, that's why the last two months have been the two strongest on record. Now that interest rates have edged down the past couple of weeks, it'll be interesting to see what happens with fall sales activity," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $514,000 last month. That was down 0.4 percent from June's record $516,000 and up 15.8 percent from $444,000 for July 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.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying was $2,361 in July. In June it was $2,450 and a year ago it was $1,953.

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

All Homes	No Sold Jul-03	No Sold Jul-04	Pct. Chg	Median Jul-03	Median Jul-04	Pct. Chg
Alameda	2,354	2,804	19.1%	$417K	$499K	19.7%
Contra Costa	2,334	2,544	9.0%	$394K	$450K	14.2%
Marin	471	482	2.3%	$661K	$726K	9.8%
Napa	196	209	6.6%	$427K	$505K	18.3%
San Francisco	656	806	22.9%	$543K	$650K	19.7%
San Mateo	1,015	986	-2.9%	$559K	$646K	15.6%
Santa Clara	2,690	3,056	13.6%	$475K	$537K	13.1%
Solano	903	1,016	12.5%	$308K	$370K	20.1%
Sonoma	882	959	8.7%	$386K	$459K	18.9%
Bay Area	11,501	12,862	11.8%	$444K	$514K	15.8%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems, www.DQNews.com

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