California September Home Sales

October 15, 2009

An estimated 40,216 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That was up 1.0 percent from 39,811 in August, and down 0.3 percent from 40,317 for September 2008. California sales for the month of September have varied from a low of 24,460 in 2007 to a peak of 69,304 in 2003, the average is 44,816. MDA DataQuick's statistics go back to 1988.

The median price paid for a home last month was $251,000, up 0.8 percent from $249,000 in August, and down 11.3 percent from $283,000 for September a year ago.

Of the existing homes sold last month, 41.9 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. That is the lowest in more than a year. In September 2008 it was 50.9 percent, it reached 58.8 percent last February.

The typical mortgage payment that home buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,085. That was down from $1,093 in August, and down from $1,363 for September a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, last month's mortgage payment was 49.1 percent below the spring 1989 peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 58.8 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 high by historical standards. Financing with multiple mortgages is low, down payment sizes are stable, and non-owner occupied buying is above-average in some markets, MDA DataQuick reported.