January Jump for Bay Area Sales and Prices

February 15, 2005

La Jolla, CA.----Bay Area home sales experienced their strongest January since the late 1980s as prices rose at their fastest pace in four years, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 7,509 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region in January. That was down 32.2 percent from 11,068 in December, and up 5.7 percent from 7,102 for January last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Sales always decline from December to January. Last month's sales count was the strongest for any January since 7,646 in 1989.

"As far as identifying trends, January and February numbers are generally shaky because of somewhat atypical mid-winter purchase patterns. Still, last month's statistics were a continuation of trends we saw toward the end of last year. More surprising than the strong sales counts was the strong appreciation rate," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $534,000, a new record. That was up 0.2 percent from $533,000 in December, and up 20.5 percent from $443,000 for January a year ago.

The last time annual price increases were over 20 percent was in January 2001 when the $375,000 median was up 20.2 percent from $312,000 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 $2,344 in January, down from $2,350 in December. A year ago it was $1,940. It peaked at $2,450 last June when mortgage interest rates were somewhat higher. In today's dollars the payment reached $2,406 in April 1990.

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.

All Homes	No Sold Jan-04	No Sold Jan-05	Pct. Chg	Median Jan-04	Median Jan-05	Pct. Chg
Alameda	1,449	1,503	3.7%	$414K	$495K	19.6%
Contra Costa	1,381	1,394	0.9%	$387K	$475K	22.7%
Marin	250	309	23.6%	$622K	$740K	19.0%
Napa	132	164	24.2%	$451K	$542K	20.2%
San Francisco	504	423	-16.1%	$531K	$684K	28.8%
San Mateo	582	550	-5.5%	$568K	$693K	22.0%
Santa Clara	1,682	1,862	10.7%	$473K	$565K	19.5%
Solano	574	754	31.4%	$319K	$399K	25.1%
Sonoma	548	550	0.4%	$399K	$482K	20.8%
Bay Area	7,102	7,509	5.7%	$443K	$534K	20.5%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems, www.DQNews.com

Media Inquiries: John Karevoll (909)867-9534

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