January home sales and price report

Continued shortage of homes on the market and seasonal slowdown send California home sales and prices lower in January, C.A.R. reports

LOS ANGELES (Feb. 21) – A typical seasonal slowdown, combined with a scarcity of available homes for sale put a damper on the California housing market in January, with both home sales and median price declining from December, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported. 

“A rush by home buyers trying to complete sales of higher-priced homes by the end of last year in order to avoid capital gains increases pulled forward sales that might have closed in January instead,” said C.A.R. President Don Faught. “Additionally, the extreme shortage of homes for sale continues to hinder California’s housing market, as demonstrated by the nearly two months’-supply drop compared with last year.”

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 491,720 units, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations and MLSs statewide. Sales in January were down 6 percent from a revised 523,090 in December and down 3.9 percent from a revised 511,760 in January 2012.  The statewide sales figure represents what would be the total number of homes sold during 2013 if sales maintained the January pace throughout the year.  It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.

The statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home fell 8.1 percent from December’s $366,930 median price to $337,040 in January. January’s price was up 24.1 percent from a revised $271,490 recorded in January 2012, marking the 11th consecutive month of annual price increases and the seventh consecutive month of double-digit annual gains. 

“The drop in the median price from December to January is in line with the seasonal pattern that we’ve observed in recent years, when the sales share of lower-priced homes usually increases at the start of the year,” said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. “For example, homes priced under $200,000 made up 28 percent of sales in January, up from 25 percent in December.  Conversely, homes priced $500,000 and higher made up nearly 24 percent of sales in January, down from nearly 28 percent in December.” 

Other key facts of C.A.R.’s January 2013 resale housing report include:

• The available supply of homes for sale loosened in January, primarily as a result of fewer home sales.  The January Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes rose to 3.5 months in January, up from 2.6 months in December, but down from a revised 5.8 months in January 2012.  The index indicates the number of months needed to sell the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.  A six- to seven-month supply is considered normal.
• Mortgage rates edged up in January, with the 30-year fixed-mortgage interest rate averaging 3.41 percent, up from 3.35 percent in December 2012 but down from 3.92 percent in January 2012, according to Freddie Mac.  Adjustable-mortgage interest rates also edged up, averaging 2.58 percent in January, up from 2.54 percent in December but down from 2.76 percent January 2012.
• Homes moved off the market faster in January, with the median number of days it took to sell a single-family home decreasing to 36.6 days in January, down from 38.1 days in December and down from 59.6 days for the same period a year ago.

Multimedia:

• Unsold Inventory by price range.
• Change in sales by price range.
• Share of sales by price range

Note:  The County MLS median price and sales data in the tables are generated from a survey of more than 90 associations of REALTORS® throughout the state, and represent statistics of existing single-family detached homes only.  County sales data are not adjusted to account for seasonal factors that can influence home sales.  Movements in sales prices should not be interpreted as changes in the cost of a standard home.  The median price is where half sold for more and half sold for less; medians are more typical than average prices, which are skewed by a relatively small share of transactions at either the lower-end or the upper-end. Median prices can be influenced by changes in cost, as well as changes in the characteristics and the size of homes sold.  Due to the low sales volume in some areas, median price changes in January may exhibit unusual fluctuation. The change in median prices should not be construed as actual price changes in specific homes.

Leading the way…® in California real estate for more than 100 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States with 155,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.

January 2013 County Sales and Price Activity
(Regional and condo sales data not seasonally adjusted)

January-13	Median Sold Price of Existing Single-Family Homes							Sales
State/Region/County	Jan-13	Dec-12		Jan-12		MTM% Chg	YTY% Chg	MTM% Chg	YTY% Chg
CA SFH (SAAR)	$337,040	$366,930		$271,490	r	-8.1%	24.1%	-6.0%	-3.9%
CA Condo/Townhomes	$265,600	$273,000		$212,230	r	-2.7%	25.1%	-25.4%	2.0%
Los Angeles Metropolitan Area	$318,950	$333,140		$256,000		-4.3%	24.6%	-20.1%	6.2%
Inland Empire	$207,530	$221,710		$169,280		-6.4%	22.6%	-12.6%	-2.7%
S.F. Bay Area	$548,890	$598,100		$415,120		-8.2%	32.2%	-30.1%	-7.9%
S.F. Bay Area
Alameda	$520,680	$529,910		$395,830		-1.7%	31.5%	-29.0%	-5.0%
Contra-Costa (Central County)	$592,100	$637,250		$476,470		-7.1%	24.3%	-36.9%	-1.9%
Marin	$799,110	$796,880		$694,440		0.3%	15.1%	-44.7%	-18.9%
Napa	$411,110	$360,340		$344,740		14.1%	19.3%	-16.1%	-14.3%
San Francisco	$687,500	$775,000		$561,270		-11.3%	22.5%	-18.9%	31.1%
San Mateo	$695,000	$775,000		$578,500		-10.3%	20.1%	-33.3%	2.5%
Santa Clara	$652,500	$681,000		$495,000		-4.2%	31.8%	-39.8%	-10.9%
Solano	$243,520	$230,830		$184,440		5.5%	32.0%	-3.9%	-21.3%
Sonoma	$367,780	$396,310		$326,920		-7.2%	12.5%	-24.5%	-16.5%
Southern California
Los Angeles	$349,720	$367,400		$290,900	r	-4.8%	20.2%	-22.7%	9.4%
Orange County	$566,500	$582,930		$483,510		-2.8%	17.2%	-24.5%	22.3%
Riverside County	$244,780	$251,520		$196,050		-2.7%	24.9%	-17.8%	-4.4%
San Bernardino	$154,500	$158,540		$129,920		-2.5%	18.9%	-2.8%	0.2%
San Diego	$390,890	$418,290		$350,680		-6.6%	11.5%	-22.1%	16.3%
Ventura	$440,670	$446,150		$386,870		-1.2%	13.9%	-30.2%	6.3%
Central Coast
Monterey	$339,500	$346,500		$280,000		-2.0%	21.3%	-11.6%	-3.3%
San Luis Obispo	$398,980	$414,660		$363,640		-3.8%	9.7%	-38.6%	9.4%
Santa Barbara	$503,570	$588,230		$355,770	r	-14.4%	41.5%	-29.1%	-6.9%
Santa Cruz	$482,000	$530,000		$422,500		-9.1%	14.1%	-30.5%	2.9%
Central Valley
Fresno	$151,450	$157,620		$128,200	r	-3.9%	18.1%	-6.7%	1.1%
Kern (Bakersfield)	$164,900	$161,150	r	$130,000		2.3%	26.8%	-12.8%	-12.1%
Kings County	$153,330	$146,000		$140,000	r	5.0%	9.5%	-21.0%	-5.9%
Madera	$98,330	$144,290		$113,750		-31.9%	-13.6%	0.0%	0.0%
Merced	$137,000	$136,920		$112,000		0.1%	22.3%	-17.0%	1.1%
Placer County	$292,710	$300,420		$259,560	r	-2.6%	12.8%	-26.4%	0.3%
Sacramento	$201,010	$195,630		$161,080	r	2.8%	24.8%	-22.2%	-8.7%
San Benito	$310,500	$364,480		$260,000		-14.8%	19.4%	-23.3%	-9.8%
San Joaquin	$182,430	$184,320		$160,000		-1.0%	14.0%	-26.9%	-18.5%
Stanislaus	$155,450	$161,610		$134,580		-3.8%	15.5%	-10.5%	-6.6%
Tulare	$135,560	$144,440		$116,670		-6.1%	16.2%	-25.2%	-26.3%
Other Counties in California
Amador	$184,000	$177,500		$135,000		3.7%	36.3%	-2.3%	16.7%
Butte County	$208,930	$236,460		$194,000		-11.6%	7.7%	-19.4%	5.1%
El Dorado County	$283,570	$292,420		$250,000		-3.0%	13.4%	-19.9%	0.5%
Humboldt	$234,720	$216,670		$220,000		8.3%	6.7%	1.2%	20.8%
Lake County	$134,440	$127,500		$118,570		5.4%	13.4%	-11.5%	0.0%
Tuolumne	$175,000	$194,280		$147,140		-9.9%	18.9%	-3.7%	15.6%
Mendocino	$245,000	$246,430		$190,000		-0.6%	28.9%	-43.1%	-21.6%
Shasta	$174,000	$170,740		$151,670		1.9%	14.7%	-10.7%	-5.6%
Siskiyou County	$106,670	$133,330		$123,330		-20.0%	-13.5%	-16.7%	11.1%
Tehama	NA	$130,000		$110,000		NA	NA	NA	NA
Yolo	$260,940	$273,860		$195,550		-4.7%	33.4%	-16.8%	-6.6%

r = revised

January 2013 County Unsold Inventory and Time on Market
(Regional and condo sales data not seasonally adjusted)

January-13	Unsold Inventory Index					Median Time on Market
State/Region/County	Jan-13	Dec-12		Jan-12		Jan-13	Dec-12		Jan-12
CA SFH (SAAR)	3.5	2.6		5.8	r	36.6	38.1		59.6	r
CA Condo/Townhomes	3.3	2.2		6.2		39.4	42.8		72.0	r
Los Angeles Metropolitan Area	3.5	2.8		6.3		43.5	45.3		64.2
Inland Empire	3.8	3.2		5.7		41.6	43.0		56.5
S.F. Bay Area	3.1	1.8		4.5		45.4	45.5		73.9
S.F. Bay Area
Alameda	2.2	1.3		4.3		68.2	63.3		98.5
Contra-Costa (Central County)	2.8	1.4		5.2		69.7	66.5		97.0
Marin	4.7	2.2		5.2		76.3	58.0		83.1
Napa	5.1	4.4		6.3		87.8	77.9		87.9
San Francisco	4.4	2.2		6.0		37.0	39.3		66.9
San Mateo	2.5	1.5		4.5		23.3	21.6		40.3
Santa Clara	2.2	1.2		3.8		23.4	21.2		37.7
Solano	3.4	2.6		3.8		51.5	45.9		62.0
Sonoma	4.3	3.0		4.9		27.6	69.9		101.1
Southern California
Los Angeles	3.0	2.4		6.1		38.6	40.2		64.0
Orange County	3.5	2.7		8.0		55.1	57.5		78.4
Riverside County	3.9	3.1		6.0		44.6	43.7		59.3
San Bernardino	3.6	3.3		5.2		36.5	41.9		52.3
San Diego	4.1	3.0		7.1		37.7	43.1		62.6
Ventura	4.7	3.1		7.9		56.2	56.4		89.4
Central Coast
Monterey	3.8	3.2		5.7		27.4	26.2		46.7
San Luis Obispo	5.1	3.0		7.0		42.0	58.9		85.5
Santa Barbara	4.6	3.2		6.4	r	33.4	42.7		74.3	r
Santa Cruz	3.9	2.7		6.3		39.9	29.3		43.9
Central Valley
Fresno	4.3	3.8		5.8	r	26.6	26.4		39.8	r
Kern (Bakersfield)	2.4	2.1	r	3.7	r	29.0	26.0	r	47.0	r
Kings County	3.5	2.9		4.3	r	42.2	47.4		53.2	r
Madera	2.6	2.0		5.6		29.1	64.6		35.8
Merced	3.4	2.6		5.3		27.4	24.5		41.5
Placer County	2.8	1.9		5.7	r	23.9	23.5		55.9	r
Sacramento	2.4	1.6		5.2	r	21.3	21.9		41.4	r
San Benito	2.3	1.6		3.4		28.8	29.1		52.8
San Joaquin	2.8	1.9		4.6		21.8	21.3		46.2
Stanislaus	2.3	2.0		5.2		20.9	20.4		42.3
Tulare	4.2	2.8		4.9		27.6	25.0		31.5
Other Counties in California
Amador	5.4	5.3		7.7		57.9	73.7		91.0
Butte County	4.4	3.5		5.9		42.4	50.5		65.8
El Dorado County	4.5	3.2		6.9		41.4	42.8		81.7
Humboldt	4.7	4.7		6.9		70.1	58.2		79.5
Lake County	5.4	4.5		6.8		75.5	75.5		104.1
Tuolumne	5.8	5.6		8.4		61.0	82.8		71.9
Mendocino	10.1	5.3		7.8		94.6	54.4		75.5
Shasta	4.5	4.0		5.0		33.1	27.3		48.3
Siskiyou County	9.9	8.4		11.4		64.6	53.4		123.9
Tehama	NA	NA		7.3		NA	61.0		78.4
Yolo	2.9	2.2		5.9		24.7	25.8		57.2

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