California November Home Sales

December 17, 2009

An estimated 35,860 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That was down 13.1 percent from 41,280 in October, and up 11.5 percent from 32,163 for November 2008. A decline in sales from October to November is normal for the season. California sales for the month of November have varied from a low of 25,578 in 2007 to a peak of 60,326 in 2004, while the November average is 40,377. MDA DataQuick's statistics go back to 1988.

The median price paid for a home last month was $261,000, up 1.6 percent from $257,000 in October, and up 1.2 percent from $258,000 for November a year ago. The year-over-year increase was the first since July 2007 when the $478,000 median was up 0.8 percent from $474,000 a year earlier.

Of the existing homes sold last month, 40.6 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. That is the lowest since May 2008, when it was 39.8 percent. In November 2008 it was 55.9 percent. Foreclosure resales peaked at 58.8 percent of statewide resales in February this year.

The typical mortgage payment that home buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,106. That was up from $1,097 in October, and down from $1,249 for November 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 has declined somewhat but 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.