California Home Prices Increase 8 Percent In June
SAN DIEGO (AP) — California home prices rose sharply last month to the highest levels in more than two years, according to a San Diego-based research firm.
DataQuick said Wednesday that the statewide median price for new and existing houses and condominiums was $274,000 in June, up more than 8 percent from the same period last year. It marks the fourth straight increase and the highest since May 2010.
More than 41,000 homes were sold in the state last month, up more than 5 percent from last year, and foreclosed properties were a much smaller part of the sales mix, DataQuick said. Foreclosed homes tend to sell at steep discounts.
San Francisco Bay Area home prices hit a four-year high in June, due in part to a shift in the market that saw foreclosures wane and buyers snap up costlier residences, the firm said.
The median price for new and existing homes and condominiums in the nine-county Bay Area region reached $417,000 in June, up more than 10 percent from the same period last year, DataQuick said.
Last month's median was the highest since it was $447,000 in August 2008. However, the median price is still well off its peak of $665,000 in mid-2007.
In Sacramento County, the median home price in June rose 3 percent from May to $165,000.
Home sales last month jumped to nearly 8,600, up 7 percent from the same period last year.
"Some of today's stats are similar to what we saw in the thick of the housing downturn back in 2009, only in reverse: Instead of foreclosure re-sales soaring, they're waning, and instead of high-end sales slumping, they're posting some of the larger sales gains," DataQuick president John Walsh said.
He added that last month's jump in the median sale price might, to some extent, reflect prices edging a bit higher in certain markets, but it's mostly a reflection of the change in market mix.
The market is also being helped by slightly improved mortgage availability and ultra-low interest rates, the firm said.
Home sales in the region increased on a year-over-year basis for the 12th month in a row.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.)
