Seasonal Sales Dip More Than Usual in Southern California

Like other housing indicators coveringrnthe summer’s end, the one released today by DataQuick showed a graduallyrnslowing market.  The San Diego basedrncompany reported that home sales in southern California, which traditionallyrndecline from August to September, did so by a larger amount than usual.  Sales were still up over a year earlier.   </p

Sales of homes and condos in the state’srnsix largest southern counties totaled 19,122 in September, a decrease of 17.1rnpercent from the 23,057 completed sales in August.  Sales in that region of the state have declinedrnan average of 9.3 percent between August and September since 1988.  Still the September number exceeded sales inrnSeptember 2012 by 7.0 percent.  </p

September sales were also almost 20rnpercent below historic September levels which have ranged between 12,455 inrn2007 and 37,771 in 2003 with an average of 23,862.  It has been seven years since sales in anyrnmonth have exceeded the average for that month.<br /<br /The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in thernregion last month was $382,000, down 0.8 percent from $385,000 in August and uprn21.3 percent from $315,000 in September 2012. This was the 18^{th</supconsecutive month that prices have risen on an annual basis and the 14th</supfor double digit increases – those have ranged between 10.8 and 28.3 percent.  September's median remained 24.4 percent belowrnthe peak $505,000 median in spring/summer 2007. <br /<br /"We've seen a fairly normal downshifting in the housing market this fall.rnCouple that with the rise in inventory, higher mortgage rates and the ongoing,rngradual drop in purchases by investors and cash buyers and it’s no wonderrnprices have leveled off in recent months. What’s not clear is how well thernmarket can weather the job losses related to the federal government shutdownrnand the blow to consumer confidence caused by fears of a default in thernnational debt. Those impacts would start to show up in data released over thernnext couple of months,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president. <br /<br /It appears that most of last month's 21.3 percent year-over-year increase inrnthe Southland median sale price reflects rising home prices, while a smallrnportion reflects a change in market mix; a big increase in mid- to high-endrnsales over the last year and a big decline in sales of distressed properties.   Median square foot prices rose 23.2 percentrnin the lowest-cost tier of housing stock, 24.8 percent for the middle, and 18.5rnpercent for the most expensive homes.<br /<br /In September, foreclosure resales accounted for 6.3 percent of the Southlandrnresale market, down from 6.9 percent in August and 16.6 percent a yearrnearlier.  It was the lowest rate sincernMay 2007.  Short sales also fell to arn13.1 percent share, the lowest since May 2009. </p}

Non-owner occupants bought 26.3 percentrnof homes sold last month.  That share hasrnratcheted down gradually each month in 2013 after peaking at 32.4 percent inrnJanuary.  Flips, homes sold within sixrnmonths of a previous sale, rose to 6.2 percent from 5.9 percent in August andrn5.5 percent a year earlier.<br /<br /Buyers paying with cash accounted for 27.6 percent of last month's home sales,rndown from 28.4 percent the month before and 32.2 percent a year earlier.   Among those using a mortgage 11.9 percentrnused an ARM, about double the national average, and 19.0 percent went with FHA.</p

The most active lenders in the southern California market in August were WellsrnFargo with 8.7 percent of the purchase loan market, Bank of America with 2.6rnpercent and JP Morgan Chase with 2.5 percent. <br /All lenders combined provided $6.02 billion in mortgage money to home buyers inrnSeptember, down from $6.58 billion in August and up from $4.47 billion inrnSeptember last year.

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