February report from DataQuick

The February numbers were released by DataQuick today. The report is about as expected. Sales are still humming along at the low end but the numbers are still well below average years. They are well up from last year, but that was the worst year on record. Prices are down again but the declines are slowing a bit as expected.

So here's the report,

Southland home sales stayed above year-ago levels for the eighth consecutive month in February as the median price halted its month-to-month decline for the first time in ten months. Market activity was dominated by bargain-hunting in affordable neighborhoods while buying and selling in more expensive established areas remained largely on hold, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 15,231 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was essentially unchanged from 15,227 for January, and up 41.3 percent from 10,777 for February 2008, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego.

Sales have increased on a year-to-year basis since last July. February a year ago was the slowest February in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988. The February average is 18,120.

egionwide, foreclosure resales accounted for 56.4 percent of February’s resales activity, which was the same as the revised January figure and up from 36.2 percent in February 2008.

The median price paid for a Southland home was $250,000 last month, the same as in January. That was down 38.7 percent from $408,000 for February a year ago. The median peaked at $505,000 in mid 2007.

In today's market, the drop in the median overstates the decline in home values. The more affordable inland markets with most of the discounted foreclosures account for a large share of today's sales, while homes in the upper half of the market are not selling well, and are under-represented in the statistics. ( Funny how they assume the low end is "underpricing the median", maybe its the high end that's still priced too high. Sooner or later they will submit and lower the prices too).

Sales Volume			Median Price
All homes	Feb-08	Feb-09	%Chng	Feb-08	Feb-09	%Chng
Los Angeles	3,468	4,590	32.4%	$460,000	$299,000	-35.0%
Orange	1,471	1,879	27.7%	$520,000	$375,000	-27.9%
Riverside	2,147	3,420	59.3%	$325,000	$190,000	-41.5%
San Berdu	1,242	2,324	87.1%	$290,000	$153,000	-47.2%
San Diego	1,954	2,473	26.6%	$415,000	$285,000	-31.3%
Ventura	495	545	10.1%	$445,000	$327,000	-26.5%
SoCal	10,777	15,231	41.3%	$408,000	$250,000	-38.7%

The median for Riverside dropped 2.5% last month from $195k down to $190k

The median for San Berdu dropped 5.5% from $162k down to $153k!