California July Home Sales

August 21, 2009

An estimated 45,079 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That was up 2.1 percent from 44,167 in June, and up 14.1 percent from 39,507 for July 2008. Sales have increased on a year-over-year basis the last thirteen months. California sales for the month of July have varied from a low of 30,596 in 1995 to a peak of 71,186 in 2004, the average is 47,634. MDA DataQuick's statistics go back to 1988. Last month's sales were the highest for any month since 51,054 homes were sold in August 2006.

The median price paid for a home last month was $250,000, up 1.6 percent from $246,000 in June, and down 21.4 percent from $318,000 for July a year ago. The upturn in median the last three months is the result of a relative increase in sales of more expensive homes.

Of the existing homes sold last month, 43.7 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. That is the lowest in more than a year, in June 2008 it was 42.5 percent, it reached 58.8 percent in February.

The typical mortgage payment that home buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,101. That was down from $1,106 in June, and down from $1,563 for July a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, last month's mortgage payment was 48.3 percent below the spring 1989 peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 58.1 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.