Southland Real Estate Market Leveling Off

May 16, 2005

La Jolla,CA----Home sales in Southern California stayed at near- record levels last month as prices hit new highs, rising at their slowest pace in more than three years, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 31,431 new and resale homes were sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in April. That was down 3.8 percent from 32,674 in March, and down 4.5 percent from 32,916 for April last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Last year's April was the strongest April in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988. Last month was the second-strongest.

"There are two factors that can lead to a decline in sales. The first is that potential buyers cannot or will not buy. The second is that there aren't enough homes for sale. Right now we're probably looking at a combination of the two. More homes will probably be put on the market in coming months, as potential sellers try to sell at the peak in their local markets," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Southern California home was $445,000 last month, a new record. That was up 1.4 percent from $439,000 in March, and up 15.0 percent from $387,000 for April 2004. Last month's year-over-year price increase was the lowest since March 2002 when the $257,000 median was up 12.7 percent from the year before. Last month's year-over-year increase varied from 9.5 percent in Ventura County to 32.8 percent in San Bernardino County.

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 $2,019 last month, down from $2,037 for the previous month, and up from $1,760 for April a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, current payments are about 5 percent below what they peaked in the spring 1989.

Indicators of market distress are still largely absent. Foreclosure activity has bottomed out, but is still low. Down payment sizes are stable, as are flipping rates and non-owner occupied buying activity , DataQuick reported.

All Homes	No Sold Apr-04	No Sold Apr-05	Pct. Chg	Median Apr-04	Median Apr-05	Pct. Chg
Los Angeles	10,749	10,299	-4.2%	$387K	$447K	15.5%
Orange County	4,577	4,547	-0.7%	$523K	$576K	10.1%
San Diego	6,094	5,345	-12.3%	$439K	$484K	10.3%
Riverside	6,116	5,718	-6.5%	$308K	$374K	21.4%
San Bernardino	3,954	4,007	1.3%	$229K	$304K	32.8%
Ventura	1,426	1,515	6.2%	$483K	$529K	9.5%
So. California	32,916	31,431	-4.5%	$387K	$445K	15.0%

Source: DQNews.com

Media Inquiries: John Karevoll (909) 867-9534

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