The year’s second quarter added up to record median home price and sales pace in California, a trade group has said.
From April to June, the median price of a single-family home soared an annual 25.3 percent, to $461,730, and sales grew at an annualized 10.4 percent, or 635,580 units. That’s the number of homes that will sell for the entire year if all of 2004 matches the second quarter.
“That’s telling us it’s a very active market. Even though prices are going up because of the favorable credit conditions, there are an ample number of people out there ready and willing to buy a home,” said Robert Kleinhenz, deputy chief economist of the California Association of Realtors.
Price records toppled across Southern California during the quarter.
In Los Angeles County, the median price soared 30.4 percent, to $438,430, and sales fell 7 percent. In Ventura County the median price jumped 33.2 percent, to $618,260, and sales dropped 7.5 percent.
Ninety-nine percent of the state’s cities and communities had their median home prices increase in the second quarter.
Inventory declined a bit statewide to 1.9 months in the second quarter from 2.1 months the year before. This is how long it would take to sell out the supply at the current sales pace.
The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 24 days in the second quarter of 2004, three days less than a year ago.
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This kind of strength is good for the area economy, said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.
“This resale activity in the second quarter will impact out into the economy for at least 12 months and maybe longer,” he said.