California June 2008 Home Sales

July 18, 2008

A total of 35,202 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That was up 6.6 percent from 33,024 in May and down 8.1 percent from 38,291 for June last year. Last month's total made for the slowest June in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988.

Of the homes sold in June, 41.9 percent were foreclosure resales, up from a revised 40.1 percent in May and 6.6 percent in June a year ago.

The median price paid for a home last month was $328,000, down 3.2 percent from $339,000 for the month before, and down 31.5 percent from $479,000 for June a year ago. Around half the drop in median is due to depreciation, the other half 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 $1,543. That was down from $1,569 in May, and down from $2,319 for June a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, mortgage payments are back to where they were in mid 2003. They are 25.3 percent below the spring 1989 peak of the prior real estate cycle. They are 39.7 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 flat, DataQuick reported.

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