Southland home prices jump

June 16, 2004

La Jolla,CA----Southland home sales stayed strong at a high level as prices increased to record levels last month, the result of high demand while buyers moved to finance home purchases before interest rates move higher, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 31,151 homes were sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in May. That was down 5.4 percent from April's 32,916 and down 0.8 percent from 31,387 for May last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

"More homes are being listed for sale and that should ease the upward pressure on prices this summer and into fall. Sales counts may hit new records while today's price increases should ease back a bit," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Southern California home was $396,000 last month, a new record. That was up 2.3 percent from $387,000 in April, and up 26.9 percent from $312,000 for May 2003. The year-over- year price increase was the strongest in DataQuick's statistics.

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 $1,884 in May, up from $1,760 for the previous month and up from $1,344 for May a year ago. In today's dollars, the payment reached $2,089 in April 1989

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 May-03	No Sold May-04	Pct. Chg	Median May-03	Median May-04	Pct. Chg
Los Angeles	10,863	10,530	-3.1%	$313K	$394K	25.9%
Orange County	4,747	4,386	-7.6%	$398K	$543K	36.4%
San Diego	5,047	5,448	7.9%	$375K	$454K	21.1%
Riverside	5,265	5,516	4.8%	$241K	$317K	31.5%
San Bernardino	3,940	3,921	-0.5%	$186K	$236K	26.9%
Ventura	1,525	1,350	-11.5%	$387K	$492K	27.1%
So. California	31,387	31,151	-0.8%	$312K	$396K	26.9%

Source: DQNews.com

Media Inquiries: John Karevoll (909) 867-9534

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