Seventh Straight Month of Lower Home Sales in California

Closed sales of existing single-family homes slippedrnagain in February, marking the seventh straight month of declining activity. ThernCalifornia Association of Realtors® (C.A.R.) said that sales of existing homesrnduring the month were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 361,210 units.  This was a 0.7 percent dip from the Januaryrnrate of 363,930 units.  It was the fourthrnmonth that existing home sales were under 400,000 and the rate was 13.7 percentrnbelow the rate of 418,520 homes in February 2013. </p

“The slower sales in Februaryrnreflects diminished housing affordability after three years of solid pricernincreases and interest rates that are nearly a full percentage point higherrnthan a year ago,” said C.A.R. President Kevin Brown.  “With the interestrnrate difference alone, home buyers this year would have to pay $150 more perrnmonth on their mortgage payment than last year, a substantial amount for manyrnwould-be home buyers trying to get into the market.”</p

Virtually every country reporting tornC.A.R. posted year-over-year declines in sales. rnIncreases were noted in Contra Costa Country (+22 percent) and SanrnFrancisco Country (+14.9 percent) and sales in the small counties of Madera andrnAmador were also up.   </p

Inventories improved in Februaryrnwith a 4.7 month supply of existing single-family homes available for salerncompared to 4.3 months in January and 3.6 months in February 2013.  C.A.R.’s Unsold Inventory Index reflects bothrnthe number of homes on the market and the current sales rate. A six- tornseven-month supply is considered typical in a normal market.</p

With declining sales and increasingrninventories the statewide median price of an existing, single-family detachedrnhome retreated 1.6 percent from January’s median price of $410,990 to $404,250.rn February’s price was 21.3 percent higherrnthan a year earlier marking two full years of consecutive year-over-year pricernincreases and the 20th straight month of double-digit annual gains, as higherrnpriced homes made up a larger share of the market compared to a year ago. rn</p

</p

“Supply conditions in the housingrnmarket have shown some improvement since the end of last year, except for thernlowest price range where the inventory for distressed properties is depleted.rn In the mid-priced range of $300,000-$750,000, which covers nearly half ofrnall home sales, inventory is up 27 percent, while the supply of high-end homesrn- properties priced at or above $1 million, also is up 13 percent from a yearrnago,” said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist LesliernAppleton-Young.  “The improvement in these prime price ranges will benefitrntrade-up buyers who are expected to dominate the market in 2014, as many ofrnthem will be searching for homes in these price categories.”</p

The median number of marketing daysrnfor a single-family home fell to 40 days from 44.3 days in January but remainedrnhigher than the 34.3 days it took to sell a home in February 2013.</p

Sales and price data are generatedrnby C.A.R. from a survey of more than 90 Realtor associations throughout thernstate. 

All Content Copyright © 2003 – 2009 Brown House Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.nReproduction in any form without permission of MortgageNewsDaily.com is prohibited.