Existing home sales in California in December were at their highest level since May, according to the California Association of Realtors.
Sales of single-family homes closed at a seasonally adjusted rate of 520,680 units per year. That's up 5.9% from November's pace of 491,590 existing home sales, but down 6.8% from a rate of 558,840 in December 2009.
"December's sales increase reflects buyers taking advantage of rock bottom interest rates and improved affordability since the first half of the year, when prices were higher," CAR president Beth Peerce explained. "Most of December's sales opened escrow in October and November. Rates hit their absolute lowest in October but began edging higher in November, prompting buyers to get off the fence," she said.
The statewide sales figure represents what would be the total number of homes sold during 2010 if sales maintained the November pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.
Meanwhile, an unusual drop in home listings, combined with the sales increase, caused the unsold inventory index for single-family detached houses to decline by more than a month. The key benchmark was five months in December, down from 6.2 months in November. But it was 3.8 months just a year earlier. The index indicates the number of months needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.
At the same time, however, the median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 57.5 days in December compared to 35.1 days in December 2009.
