Solid Southland Home Sales

February 18, 2004

La Jolla,CA----Southern California experienced its third-strongest January of the past fifteen years last month, the result of strong demand and reasonable mortgage interest rates. Prices increased again by more than 20 percent on a year-over-year basis, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 22,652 homes were sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in January. That was down 30.1 percent from December's 32,423 and down 0.5 percent from 22,767 for January last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

A decrease from December to January is normal for the season. Last year's January was the strongest since 1989 when 23,379 homes were sold.

"We have been expecting interest rates to edge up, but instead they have gone down a bit the past two months. Additionally, demand is still strong, there are still more people who want to buy homes than there are homes for sale," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Southern California home was $343,000 in January. That was down 0.9 percent from $346,000 in December, and up 21.2 percent from $283,000 for January 2003. Year-over-year price increases have been around 20 percent since last summer and are expected to ease back to around 15 percent by late spring or summer.

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 Southland buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,502 in January, down from $1,547 for the previous month and up from $1,307 for January a year ago, DataQuick reported

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 Jan-03	No Sold Jan-04	Pct. Chg	Median Jan-03	Median Jan-04	Pct. Chg
Los Angeles	8,240	8,030	-2.5%	$278K	$352K	26.6%
Orange County	3,488	3,052	-12.5%	$369K	$450K	22.0%
San Diego	3,468	3,567	2.9%	$336K	$396K	17.9%
Riverside	3,674	4,075	10.9%	$222K	$273K	23.0%
San Bernardino	2,716	2,914	7.3%	$174K	$205K	17.8%
Ventura	1,181	1,014	-14.1%	$339K	$430K	26.8%
So. California	22,767	22,652	-0.5%	$283K	$343K	21.2%

Source: DQNews.com

Media Inquiries: John Karevoll (909) 867-9534

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