Bay Area Home Sales Falling Much Faster Than State Average

Home sales in the San Francisco Bay Area like those in thernstate at large fell in November DataQuick said today.  While state-wide sales, as reported earlierrntoday by the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) were down 3.4 percent onrna seasonally adjusted annual basis from October to November, sales in the ninerncounty Bay Area were down 12.3 percent on an unadjusted basis.  November sales totaled 6,659 new and existingrnhomes and condos, down 10.9 percent on a year-over-year basis. </p

Sales in November, going back to 1988, have averaged 7,840rnsales putting this November 15.1 percent below that average.  DataQuick said that Bay Area sales haven’trnbeen above average for any particular month in more than seven years.  </p

While median prices slipped statewide by 1.2 percentrncompared to October, prices in the Bay Area continued to increase.  The median price in the region was $550,000,rn1.9 percent higher than the October median of $539,750 and 25.6 percent abovern$438,000 in November 2012.  The Bay Arearnmedian peaked at $665,000 in June and July 2007, then dropped to a low ofrn$290,000 in March 2009. While much of the median’s ups and downs can bernattributed to shifts in the types of homes sold, DataQuick says it appears thatrnmost of the current year-over-year increase in the median reflects an actualrnrise in home values. </p

The company said recent sales were constrained by limitedrninventory and market uncertainty. rnPurchase and mortgage patterns, it said, are moving slowly but steadilyrntoward long-term norms. <br /<br /"Up until half a year ago, the greater Bay Area market was basically bouncingrnup off bottom. Beginning last summer, the market started incrementallyrnrebalancing, trending toward normalcy, as it were. Not just sales and prices:rnThere has been a serious drop in distress sales, cash sales, absentee buyerrnsales. Mortgage financing patterns are still far from normal, but are moving inrnthe right direction,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president. <br /<br /The number of Bay Area homes that sold for less than $500,000 dropped 32.5rnpercent year-over-year, while the number that sold for more increased 8.2rnpercent.  Distressed property sales madernup 12.8 percent of the resale market, down from 13.1 percent in October and 35.7rnpercent a year ago with short sales making up 9.1 percent and foreclosurernresales 3.7 percent.   In November 2012rnshort sales made up 23.2 percent of sales and foreclosure resales 12.5rnpercent.  Foreclosure resales peaked atrn52.0 percent in February 2009. </p<pJumbo loans, mortgages above the old conformingrnlimit of $417,000, accounted for 50.1 percent of last month's purchase lending,rnup from a revised 47.7 percent in October, and up from 40.3 percent a year ago.rn Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs)rnaccounted for 20.1 percent, down from 20.5 percent in October, and up from 12.0rnpercent in November last year.  NationallyrnARMs have only an 8 percent market share. rnSince 2000, ARMs have accounted for 47.4 percent of all purchase loans.  FHA home purchase loans, a popularrnlow-down-payment choice among first-time buyers, accounted for 10.2 percent ofrnall Bay Area home purchase mortgages in November. That was down from 10.4rnpercent in October and down from 14.7 percent a year earlier.

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