There is positive news in California as June statistics from the California Association of Realtors show home sales experienced solid gains annually and home prices reached their highest level since August 2010.
According to the trade group, home sales rose 8.5% in June compared to last year’s revised pace of 478,040. The statewide sales figure represents what would be the total number of homes sold during 2012 if sales maintained the monthly pace throughout the year.
CAR said homes are moving faster on the market with the median number of days it takes to sell a single-family property dropping to 43.4 days in June, down both from May and the same time period last year by 45.7 days and 50.4 days, respectively.
Meanwhile, home prices also continued to improve as the median price posted both month-over-month and year-over-year gains for the fourth consecutive month.
In June, the statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home was $320,540. This figure is 1.3% higher than the previous month and is an 8.1% increase from a year ago.
The latest monthly median home price was also 30.7% higher than the cyclical bottom of $245,230 reached in February 2009.
However, there was an 8.6% monthly decline from May’s pace of 567,330 for closed escrow sales of single-family homes.
“Although home sales throughout the state continued to improve compared with year earlier, we did see a modest dip compared with May,” said LeFrancis Arnold, president of the California Association of Realtors. “Potential homebuyers are frustrated by limited number of homes on the market for sale and growing discouraged by signs that the economy is slowing.”
California’s housing inventory remained flat in June with the unsold inventory index holding at 3.5 months. Last year, the housing inventory was 5.1 months. CAR said a 7-month supply is considered to be normal to sell the inventory of homes on the market at the current sales rate.
“The lack of inventory continued to impact California’s housing market this month. Tight supply is putting upward pressure on home prices, but it also is restraining sales demand, especially in lower-price segments,” said Leslie Appleton-Young, vice president and chief economist at CAR.
