Defying long-standing expectations of an imminent slowdown, summer’s residential real estate buying season ended with prices for all of Southern California hitting a record in August for the seventh consecutive month amid strong sales, an industry tracker has said.
Last month the median price of a home in the six-county region from Ventura to San Diego jumped an annual 17 percent to $476,000 and increased 1.5 percent from July, said La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems.
Each county also set price records.
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And for the first time the median price of a previously owned home, the point at which half the units cost more and half less, crossed the $500,000 mark, reaching $501,000. The median condominium price settled at $403,000, crossing $400,000 for the first time.
There has not been any real change in market fundamentals.
Interest rates remain low, demand is still strong and inventory is starting to pick up.
But a big turn down is still not on the horizon.
“As an investment, homeownership still looks pretty good compared to the alternatives. So while we’re certainly closer to the end of the cycle, the market is still balanced and stable,” DataQuick President Marshall Prentice said in a statement.
During August, consumers bought 34,292 new and previously owned homes in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange Counties. That’s up 10.4 percent from 31,069 in July, and up 10.2 percent from 31,131 for August, according to DataQuick’s analysis.
August’s sales are the third most in DataQuick’s records, which go back to 1988. Sales in August 2003 were 34,437 and in August 1988 they totaled 35,339, the company said.
The report showed that:
– In Los Angeles County, the median price soared an annual 21.4 percent to $494,000 and sales increased 8.8 percent to 11,653 transactions.
– In Ventura County, the median price increased 15.2 percent to $592,000 and sales jumped 31.7 percent to 1,578 units.
– In San Bernardino County, the median soared 31.8 percent to $344,000 and sales increased 4.7 percent to 4,522 units.
“We though that last year at this time we’d be in single digits [appreciation-wise] and it just hasn’t happened,” said DataQuick analyst John Karevoll.
San Diego is the only one of the six counties that appears to have reached a point of flattening out. The median price there increased just 2.1 percent annually to 493,000 while sales fell 3.6 percent to 5,379 units.