July 30, 2012 (Jeff Alan)
Monthly sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums in the San Francisco Bay area fell from May to June but were still higher year-over-year for the 12th consecutive month according to real estate information provider DataQuick..
A total of 8,577 new and resale homes were sold in June in the nine county Bay Area, which includes Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano and Sonoma Counties. That was 2.6 percent lower than the 8,810 home sales in May but still 7.2 percent higher than the 7,998 sales posted in June of 2011. Year-over-year home sales have improved for 12 consecutive months.
Home sales typically increase from May to June in the Bay area with last month’s home sales 14.8 percent below their historical average.
Cash buyers accounted for 27.5 percent of the homes purchased for the month, down from 28.3 percent in May and they paid a median price of $277,000 for the homes they purchased, down from $280,000 the previous month.
Absentee buyers, usually investors and vacation home buyers, accounted for 23.4 percent of all sales, down from 24.4 percent in May, paying a median price of $270,000 for the homes they purchased, up from $262,000 the previous month..
The median sales price for new and resale homes and condos in June increased 4.3 percent to $417,000, up from $400,000 in May. The median price was 10.4 percent higher than in June of 2011, when the median price stood at $377,750. It was the third consecutive month that year-over-year home prices have improved in the area following 19 straight months of declines.
By comparison, the lowest median price posted during the current real estate cycle was $290,000 in June 2009, while the peak median price was $665,000 in June/July 2007.
John Walsh, president of DataQuick, stated, “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 resales soaring they’re waning, and instead of high-end sales slumping they’re posting some of the larger sales gains. This is one of the main reasons that various price measures are pointing higher – a so-called change in market mix. While last month’s jump in the median sale price might to some extent reflect prices edging a bit higher in certain markets, mostly it’s a reflection of the change in market mix. Fewer discounted distressed properties changing hands, more normal sales in the move-up range.”
Distressed home sales accounted for 36.1 percent of the Bay Area’s re-sale market last month, down from a revised 39.0 percent in May. Foreclosure re-sales accounted for 18.1 percent of all existing home sales in June, down from 21.4 percent in May, while short sales also made up about 18.0 percent of the Bay Area’s existing home sales last month, up from a revised 17.6 percent in May.
Tags: Bay Area, DataQuick, home sales, home prices, spring selling season, median sales price, new homes, re-sale homes
Source:
Dataquick
