California April 2008 Home Sales

May 22, 2008

A total of 31,150 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That was up 26.8 percent from 24,565 in March and down 10.9 percent from 34,949 for April last year. While last month's total made for the slowest April since 1995 when 27,625 homes sold, it was the first month since August last year that wasn't a record low in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988.

Of the homes sold in April, 37.7 percent were foreclosure resales, up from a revised 35.4 percent in March.

The median price paid for a home last month was $354,000, down 1.1 percent from $358,000 for the month before, and down 26.9 percent from $484,000 for April a year ago when the median peaked. Around half the drop in median is due to shifts in the types of homes selling, and how those homes are financed.

The typical mortgage payment that home buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,578. That was down from $1,606 in March, and down from $2,258 for April a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, mortgage payments are back to where they were in mid 2003. They are 22.2 percent below the spring 1989 peak of the prior real estate cycle. They are 37.2 percent below the current cycle's peak in June 2006.

DataQuick, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates, monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts. The numbers cover all sales, new and resale, houses and condos.

Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity is at record levels, financing with adjustable-rate mortgages is at a six-year low. Down payment sizes and flipping rates are stable, non-owner occupied buying activity is increasing, DataQuick reported.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916)456-7157 or John Karevoll (909) 867-9534