Search

Rising Prices Increasingly Deterring Sales in California

by devteam June 18th, 2014 | Share

Informationrnfrom the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) on Tuesday echoing therntrend if not the absolute numbers of data released last week from DataQuick.  Both surveys show home sales falling while pricesrncontinued a more than two-year upward trajectory.  </p

(Read More: California Home Sales Dip, Prices Don’t)</p

C.A.R.rnsaid sales in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate ofrn391,030 units, 0.6 percent below the April rate of 393,480.  DataQuick reported sales on a monthly basisrnat 37,988, a decline of 0.7 percent from the month before. C.A.R. said thatrnthis was the seventh consecutive month that annualized sales figures were belowrn400,000 and the tenth time sales were down year over year, falling this time byrn9.5 percent from a revised figure of 432,140 in May 2013.  DataQuick put the annual slide at 14.4 percent.  </p

The realtyrngroup said that a shortage of homes and housing affordability concerns probablyrnheld back some would-be buyers in Ma, accounting for the slipping sales.  Nonetheless, median prices rose for the thirdrnstraight month on both a month-over-month and year-to-year basis. </p

May’srnmedian price was $465,960, a 3.7 percent increase from the April median ofrn$449,360 and 11.7 percent higher than the $417,140 recorded in May 2013.   WhilernC.A.R. and DataQuick agreed it was the 27th straight month of pricernincreases and the highest median price since December 2007 they differedrnsubstantially on the median price with DataQuick pegging it at $386,000, a 0.8rnpercent increase from April and 14.5 percent compared to May 2013.  C.A.R. said itrnwas the 23rd straight month of double-digit annual gains. </p

</p

“While home price increases haverntempered over the past few months, prices are still nearly 12 percent higherrnthan a year ago, which is presenting affordability challenges to home buyers,”rnsaid C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. rn”And though housing inventory is up from last year, it’s still half of what isrnconsidered normal, with some of it being overpriced.  A tempering in homernprice increases and the recent drop in mortgage rates, however, should helprnspark the market in the upcoming months.”</p

C.A.R. President Kevin Brown said, “Generallyrnspeaking, buyers are feeling less urgency to buy as affordability has becomernmore of an issue and lending standards continue to remain tight.  However,rna recent surge in mortgage applications, due partially to declining interestrnrates, may indicate that higher housing demand can be expected in the comingrnmonths.  </p

Housing inventory was unchangedrnin May at 3.6 months.  In May 2013 therernwas a 2.6 month supply of existing single family homes available.  A six to seven month supply is consideredrntypical.  The median number of days itrntook to sell a single-family home fell to 31.6 days in May, down from 33.8 daysrnin April but up from 27.1 days in May 2013.</p

C.A.R gathers its information fromrnmore than 90 local Realtor associations and Multiple Listing Services andrnreflects sales of only single family detached homes. 

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

About the Author

devteam

Steven A Feinberg (@CPAsteve) of Appletree Business Services LLC, is a PASBA member accountant located in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

See all blogs
Share

Comments

Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply

Latest Articles

Real Estate Investors Skip Paying Loans While Raising Billions

By John Gittelsohn August 24, 2020, 4:00 AM PDT Some of the largest real estate investors are walking away from Read More...

Late-Stage Delinquencies are Surging

Aug 21 2020, 11:59AM Like the report from Black Knight earlier today, the second quarter National Delinquency Survey from the Read More...

Published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

It was recently published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, which is about as official as you can Read More...