Here are the latest statistics for local homes sales last month ...

Southland sales down as appreciation slows

DQNews.com

January 25, 2006

LA JOLLA -- While December home sales in Southern California fell to their lowest level in four years, the market in Riverside County continued its torrid pace, leaping higher than any other county in the Southland, according to a real estate information service.

A total of 6,305 homes sold in December in Riverside County, up from 5,412 the previous year. That was a 16.5 percent increase, led in part by record-breaking sales of newly built homes, according to DataQuick Information Systems. The total was also a 6.8 percent increase from November 2005, when 5904 homes were sold.

San Bernardino County -- at 4,580 sales -- was the only other SoCal county to show growth in homes sales in December, increasing 5.7 percent from December 2004's total of 4,334 and spiking 14.7 percent from the 3,992 homes sold in November 2005, DataQuick reported.

A total of 28,952 new and resale homes were sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was up 4.8 percent from 27,637 in November, and down 4.5 percent from 30,317 for December last year, according to DataQuick.

A decline from November to December is normal for the season. Last month's sales count was the lowest for any December since 24,913 homes were sold in December 2001.

"The frenzied part of this real estate cycle is behind us and what we're seeing so far is a normalizing of the market. Mid-market and entry-level homes are selling well; the move-up and prestige markets are leveling off. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out between now and spring, " said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Southern California home was $479,000 last month, the same as November's record high. That was up 13 percent from $424,000 for December 2004. The year-over-year increase was the lowest since March 2002 when the $257,000 median was up 12.7 percent. Year-over-year price increases peaked in May 2004 at 26.9 percent.

In Riverside County, the median home price climbed 10.8 percent in December to $411,000, up from $371,000 in December 2004. Prices ballooned during the same period in San Bernardino County, reaching $361,000, a 28.5 percent increase from the previous year's median of $281,000, DataQuick reported.

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 $2,255 last month, up from $2,238 for the previous month, and up from $1,869 for December a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, current payments are about 2.6 percent above typical payments in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle.

Indicators of market distress are still largely absent. Foreclosure activity is edging up from its bottom, but is still low. Down payment sizes are stable, as are flipping rates and non-owner-occupied buying activity, DataQuick reported.

For a breakdown on the Southland median prices, click here.

Labels: Corona, Foreclosure, Home Prices, Inland Empire, Loan Modification, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Real Estate, Riverside, Short Sales, Statistics, Temecula