Bay Area Home Sales: New Price Peak, Slower Appreciation

June 16, 2005

La Jolla, CA.----Home prices in the Bay Area continued their upward climb last month, although at a slower pace. Sales were strong, but not record-breaking, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 11,308 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region last month. That was up 1.3 percent from 11,158 for April, and down 6.0 percent from 12,028 for May last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

The year-ago number was the strongest for any May in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988. Last month was the second- strongest. So far this year 48,748 Bay Area homes have been sold, down 2.5 percent from last year's 49,978 for the same five-month period. Sales in 2004 were the highest on record.

"Market trends are remarkably stable. There are still more buyers out there than there are sellers, putting upward pressure on prices. The only change we see for the immediate future is a slowing rate of appreciation," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $595,000, a new record. That was up 1.5 percent from $586,000 in April, and up 17.6 percent from $506,000 for May a year ago.

Year-over-year price increases hit 20.5 percent in January and have declined steadily since.

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 $2,646 in May, down slightly from $2,659 in April. A year ago it was $2,407.

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 May-04	No Sold May-05	Pct. Chg	Median May-04	Median May-05	Pct. Chg
Alameda	2,466	2,155	-12.6%	$487K	$573K	17.7%
Contra Costa	2,301	2,229	-3.1%	$451K	$539K	19.5%
Marin	465	429	-7.7%	$642K	$820K	27.7%
Napa	198	182	-8.1%	$510K	$552K	8.2%
San Francisco	779	698	-10.4%	$632K	$765K	21.0%
San Mateo	906	805	-11.1%	$622K	$726K	16.7%
Santa Clara	3,068	2,838	-7.5%	$544K	$628K	15.4%
Solano	966	1,098	13.7%	$349K	$429K	22.9%
Sonoma	879	874	-0.6%	$445K	$533K	19.8%
Bay Area	12,028	11,308	-6.0%	$506K	$595K	17.6%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems, www.DQNews.com

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