Bay Area home prices steady, slow sales

August 15, 2007

La Jolla, CA.----Bay Area homes continued to sell at their slowest pace since 1995 last month as buyers and sellers continued to eye each other across a perceptual divide. Except for Solano and Sonoma counties, median prices remain stable at near-record highs, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 7,423 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county Bay Area in July. That was down 6.8 percent from 7,964 in June, and down 12.4 percent from 8,476 for July a year ago, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Sales have decreased on a year-over-year basis the last 30 months. Last month's sales count was the lowest for any July since 6,666 homes were sold in 1995. The strongest July in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988, was in 2004 when 14,258 homes were sold. The July average is 9,800.

"The trend we're seeing statewide is that more expensive neighborhoods are doing better than less expensive neighborhoods. The Bay Area has always been a high-cost market, and we're not seeing the declines in prices or sales volume that we're seeing elsewhere in California. There certainly is a lull in sales, but it appears that both buyers and sellers are taking a wait-and-see stance," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home stayed at $665,000 last month, a new peak reached in June. That was up 4.1 percent from $639,000 for July last year. The 4.1 percent increase was the strongest since the median rose 5.1 percent one year ago. The year-over-year change was negative last October, November and January.

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. Due to late data availability, the July statistics for Alameda are extrapolated from the first three weeks of the month.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying was $3,222 last month, up from $3,219 the previous month, and up from $3,166 a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, current payments are 24.2 percent above typical payments in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. They are 2.5 percent below the current cycle's peak in June last year.

Foreclosure resales accounted for 4.5 percent of July's sales activity, up from 4.1 percent in June, and up from 1.5 percent in July of last year. Foreclosure resales do not yet have a regional effect on prices.

Other indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Financing with adjustable-rate mortgages and multiple mortgages has declined significantly. Down payment sizes are stable, flipping rates and non-owner occupied buying activity is flat, DataQuick reported.

All Homes	No Sold Jul-06	No Sold Jul-07	Pct. Chg	Median Jul-06	Median Jul-07	Pct. Chg
Alameda	1,665	1,577	-5.3%	$590,000	$605,000	2.5%
Contra Costa	1,747	1,328	-24.0%	$575,000	$599,000	4.2%
Marin	309	306	-1.0%	$779,000	$887,500	13.9%
Napa	138	85	-38.4%	$598,000	$614,500	2.8%
Santa Clara	2,059	1,910	-7.2%	$682,250	$700,000	2.6%
San Francisco	542	564	4.1%	$775,000	$799,000	3.1%
San Mateo	803	728	-9.3%	$770,000	$800,000	3.9%
Solano	645	408	-36.7%	$460,000	$415,000	-9.8%
Sonoma	568	517	-9.0%	$542,500	$520,000	-4.1%
Bay Area	8,476	7,423	-12.4%	$639,000	$665,000	4.1%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems, www.DQNews.com

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