California Sales and Prices on the Rise

More California homes were sold at a higher median price during March, according to the latest figures from DataQuick.

An estimated 37,764 new and resale houses and condominiums sold throughout California in March, up 31.5% from the prior month and an increase of 0.8% compared to a year ago.

However, the monthly sales were still 13.5% below the average of 43,648 sales for all March’s since 1988, when the San Diego-based analytic firm began tracking this data.

Of the existing homes sold in March, 15.2% were properties that had been foreclosed on during the last year. DataQuick said this is the lowest level since foreclosure resales accounted for 12.6% of the market in September 2007.

Meanwhile, short sales made up an estimated 21.5% of the homes that resold during this time period. This is down from 22.4% in February and 24.5% a year earlier.

The average mortgage payment that home buyers committed to paying last month was $1,134, DataQuick stated, approximately $900 more than March 2012.

Furthermore, the median price paid for a California home was $313,000, up 8.3% from $289,000 in February and 24.7% higher on an annual basis. Additionally, March was the 13th consecutive month in which the median sale price rose for the Golden State year-over-year.