Firm: Median home price in NorCal rises 20 percent in May from previous year
By Jacob Adelman, APThursday, June 17, 2010
Firm: NorCal median home price rises in month
LOS ANGELES — The median home price in Northern California last month rose 20.1 percent to top $400,000 for the first time in nearly two years, as inventories of low-cost foreclosures dwindled and transactions in mid-range and high-end neighborhoods claimed a greater share of sales, a tracking firm reported Thursday.
The median for the nine-county area increased to $410,000 from $341,500 in May 2009 and rose 10.8 percent from $370,000 in April, San Diego-based MDA DataQuick said.
The May median, which marked an eighth consecutive month of year-over-year increases, was at its highest level since September 2008, DataQuick said.
DataQuick President John Walsh said some of the higher-priced homes were reaching the market because of increasing economic troubles among middle- and upper-class families, who are compelled to sell.
But he said low mortgage rates and the now-expiring federal tax credit for home buyers also had helped boost the proportion of more expensive homes within the sales mix.
“For now, at least, we’re seeing a more normal mix of sales across the region and across price categories,” Walsh said.
Sales of homes costing $500,000 or more made up 40.7 percent of all transactions in the region last month, up from 31.3 percent a year ago, DataQuick said.
Foreclosures, meanwhile, which typically account for the lowest-price homes, comprised 27.3 percent of resales last month, dropping from 40.5 percent a year ago to reach their lowest level since April 2008, the firm said.
Walsh cautioned that banks are still thought to be carrying large numbers of foreclosed properties on their books and that it was unknown when and how these homes would go on sale.
“Price stability would be threatened if lenders suddenly pushed much larger numbers of distressed properties onto the market,” he said.
DataQuick also said 8,264 homes were sold in the region in May, up 11 percent from 7,447 in May 2009. But that’s still 16 percent less than the May average of 9,842 since the firm began keeping records in 1998. May’s sales were up 18 percent from 7,003 in April.
