From dataQuick,
Southland home sales back to record low; median price slips again
June 16, 2008
La Jolla, CA--- Bargain shoppers helped push Southern California home sales higher in May compared with April - a normal, seasonal lift - but it was still the slowest May in more than 20 years. The median price paid fell a record 27 percent from a year ago, the result of sluggish high-end sales, more sellers dropping their asking prices and lenders selling off more of their aggressively priced, repossessed homes.
A total of 16,917 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in May. That was up 8.3 percent from 15,615 in April but down 14.9 percent from 19,874 in May last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
Although last month's sales total was the highest for any month since August 2007, when 17,755 homes sold, it was still the lowest for a May in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988. Last month was also 36.5 percent lower than the May average of 26,637 sales.
Sales of post-foreclosure homes continue to dominate many inland markets. Of all the Southland homes that resold in May, 37.4 percent had been foreclosed on at some point in the prior 12 months, compared with a revised 36.2 percent in April and 5.5 percent one year ago. Across the six-county area, these "foreclosure resales" ranged from 25.6 percent of resale activity in Orange County to 56.6 percent in Riverside County.
"What horsepower this market can generate right now is mainly fueled by bargain shopping, especially by first-time buyers and investors in inland areas," said Andrew LePage, an analyst for DataQuick. "Meanwhile, sales remain especially slow in most higher-end markets, with jumbo mortgages (over $417,000) making up only a slightly higher percentage of all purchase loans in May than in April. That doesn't bode well for the high-end, where so far prices have come off their peaks but have generally held up best."
The median has dropped mainly for two reasons: depreciation, especially in inland markets, and the sharp drop off in the past nine months of home sales financed with jumbo mortgages, previously defined as over $417,000. Before the credit crunch hit in August 2007, making jumbos pricier and harder to obtain, nearly 40 percent of Southland sales were financed with them. Last month jumbos accounted for just 15.8 percent of sales, up from 15.1 percent in April.
DataQuick, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates, monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.
The typical monthly mortgage payment that Southland buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,664 last month, down from $1,716 the previous month, and down from $2,364 a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, the current payment is 22.1 percent lower than the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It is 36.2 percent below the current cycle's peak in June 2006.
Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity is at record levels, financing with adjustable-rate mortgages is at a six-year low. Down payment sizes and flipping rates are stable, non-owner occupied buying activity has risen, DataQuick reported.
Southland home sales back to record low; median price slips again
June 16, 2008
La Jolla, CA--- Bargain shoppers helped push Southern California home sales higher in May compared with April - a normal, seasonal lift - but it was still the slowest May in more than 20 years. The median price paid fell a record 27 percent from a year ago, the result of sluggish high-end sales, more sellers dropping their asking prices and lenders selling off more of their aggressively priced, repossessed homes.
A total of 16,917 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in May. That was up 8.3 percent from 15,615 in April but down 14.9 percent from 19,874 in May last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
Although last month's sales total was the highest for any month since August 2007, when 17,755 homes sold, it was still the lowest for a May in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988. Last month was also 36.5 percent lower than the May average of 26,637 sales.
Sales of post-foreclosure homes continue to dominate many inland markets. Of all the Southland homes that resold in May, 37.4 percent had been foreclosed on at some point in the prior 12 months, compared with a revised 36.2 percent in April and 5.5 percent one year ago. Across the six-county area, these "foreclosure resales" ranged from 25.6 percent of resale activity in Orange County to 56.6 percent in Riverside County.
"What horsepower this market can generate right now is mainly fueled by bargain shopping, especially by first-time buyers and investors in inland areas," said Andrew LePage, an analyst for DataQuick. "Meanwhile, sales remain especially slow in most higher-end markets, with jumbo mortgages (over $417,000) making up only a slightly higher percentage of all purchase loans in May than in April. That doesn't bode well for the high-end, where so far prices have come off their peaks but have generally held up best."
The median has dropped mainly for two reasons: depreciation, especially in inland markets, and the sharp drop off in the past nine months of home sales financed with jumbo mortgages, previously defined as over $417,000. Before the credit crunch hit in August 2007, making jumbos pricier and harder to obtain, nearly 40 percent of Southland sales were financed with them. Last month jumbos accounted for just 15.8 percent of sales, up from 15.1 percent in April.
DataQuick, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates, monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.
The typical monthly mortgage payment that Southland buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,664 last month, down from $1,716 the previous month, and down from $2,364 a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, the current payment is 22.1 percent lower than the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It is 36.2 percent below the current cycle's peak in June 2006.
Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity is at record levels, financing with adjustable-rate mortgages is at a six-year low. Down payment sizes and flipping rates are stable, non-owner occupied buying activity has risen, DataQuick reported.
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