California June Home Sales

July 16, 2009

An estimated 44,167 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That was up 13.1 percent from 39,051 in May, and up 25.5 percent from 35,202 for June 2008. Sales have increased on a year-over-year basis the last twelve months. California sales for the month of June have varied from a low of 35,202 in 2008 to a peak of 76,669 in 2004, the average is 50,698. MDA DataQuick's statistics go back to 1988.

The median price paid for a home last month was $246,000, up 7.0 percent from $230,000 in May, and down 25.0 percent from $328,000 for June a year ago. The upturn in median the last two months is the result of a relative increase in sales of more expensive homes.

Of the existing homes sold last month, 45.9 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. Last month was the first since August last year where it was below 50 percent.

The typical mortgage payment that home buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,108. That was up from $972 in May, and down from $1,628 for June a year ago. That typical mortgage payment was below the $1,000 mark from January through May. The last time it was below $1,000 was in 1999. Adjusted for inflation, last month's mortgage payment was 48.0 percent below the spring 1989 peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 57.9 percent below the current cycle's peak in June 2006.

MDA DataQuick is a division of MDA Lending Solutions, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates. MDA DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.

Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity remains near record levels, while financing with adjustable-rate mortgages is near the all-time low but has recently edged higher. Financing with multiple mortgages is low, down payment sizes and flipping rates are stable, and non-owner occupied buying is above-average in some markets, MDA DataQuick reported.