Home buyers hit California’s residential real estate market at a record pace in November even though the median price of a single-family house soared an annual 23 percent, to $473,260, a trade group says.
If November’s pace is matched for all of last year, consumers will buy 652,340 previously owned houses, besting 2003’s record.
It was the 36th consecutive month of double-digit increases in the median price, which continued making big gains across Southern California, according to the California Association of Realtors.
“The market just seems to have a momentum of its own,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. “Mortgage rates are still attractive and the local economy is performing well, and if people find a home they want they had better snap it up.”
The report showed that:
– In Los Angeles County, the median price, the point at which half the units sold for more and half for less, soared 24.2 percent, to $474,570, and sales increased an annual 3.4 percent.
– Ventura County’s median price increased 25.5 percent, to $595,910, and sales edged up 2.1 percent.
– The High Desert, which includes the Antelope Valley, again offered the best bargains. The median price there increased 43.9 percent, to $248,320, the lowest in the state. Sales increased an annual 16.4 percent.
– In the Inland Empire, the median price rose 36.9 percent, to $321,950, and sales fell an annual 4.8 percent.
“I really do think the urgency factor is operative right now. I think it was driving sales at the end of year and it certainly was unexpected,” said Leslie Appleton-Young, the association’s vice president and chief economist.
Shoppers did get a bit of a break as the inventory built to a 3.4-month supply at the current sales pace, up from 2.2 months a year earlier.
And they got a rate break, too.
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The benchmark 30-year fixed-mortgage rate averaged 5.73 percent during November, down from 5.93 percent a year earlier, said Freddie Mac, the big mortgage company.
Rates peaked last year in June at 6.29 percent. Young’s forecast has them rising to 6.5 percent this year.
Sellers needed a median 40 days to find a buyer in November, up from 27 days of a year earlier.