California Resales Up 18.1%

The sales of existing single-family detached homes in California were up 18.1% in May from the level recorded a year earlier, surpassing 400,000 for the first time since early 2007, according to the California Association of Realtors. The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of closed-escrow resales totaled 423,700 in May, up from the revised 358,640-unit rate recorded in May 2007, CAR reported. The median price of an existing single-family detached home in California totaled $384,840 in May, down 35.3% from a revised $594,530 a year earlier, the association said. The statewide price decline was "a record for year-to-year percentage decreases in the median, reflecting the effect of large numbers of short sales and foreclosures in the market," said CAR vice president and chief economist Leslie Appleton-Young. CAR can be found online at http://www.car.org.