Bay Area Home Prices Reach New Peak

November 18, 2004

La Jolla, CA.----Bay Area home prices reached a new peak last month as sales activity remained at near-record levels, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 11,180 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region in October. That was down 7.4 percent from 12,075 in September, and down 4.7 percent from 11,728 for October last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Last month was the second strongest October in DataQuick's records, which go back to 1988. October 2003 was the strongest. This year's September was the strongest September in DataQuick's records. So far this year, 112,837 Bay Area homes have been sold, up 11.5 percent from 101,201 for the same ten-month period last year.

"There are a lot of potential buyers out there and they're finding more homes for sale than was the case a half year ago. Mortgage interest rates have bottomed out and a lot of buyers want to get in before they go up any further," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $524,000 last month, a new record. That was up 1.6 percent from $516,000 in September, and up 17.5 percent from $446,000 for October a year ago.

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 $2,315 in October. In September it was $2,283, and a year ago it was $2,035.

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. A slight increase in flipping rates earlier this year has leveled off, DataQuick reported.

All Homes	No Sold Oct-03	No Sold Oct-04	Pct. Chg	Median Oct-03	Median Oct-04	Pct. Chg
Alameda	2,528	2,458	-2.8%	$420K	$497K	18.3%
Contra Costa	2,270	2,252	-0.8%	$390K	$468K	20.0%
Marin	406	404	-0.5%	$591K	$688K	16.4%
Napa	174	206	18.4%	$439K	$527K	20.0%
San Francisco	779	650	-16.6%	$571K	$666K	16.6%
San Mateo	916	840	-8.3%	$547K	$656K	19.9%
Santa Clara	2,851	2,595	-9.0%	$482K	$552K	14.5%
Solano	869	978	12.5%	$324K	$413K	27.5%
Sonoma	935	797	-14.8%	$383K	$477K	24.5%
Bay Area	11,728	11,180	-4.7%	$446K	$524K	17.5%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems, www.DQNews.com

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