Existing home sales in California declined in October, the California Association of Realtors reported.
Resale activity was off 3.5% from September and 19.6% from October 2009, CAR said. Houses were changing hands at a seasonally adjusted rate of 450,360 in October vs. 466,930 in September and 560,390 a year ago. The figures represent what would be the total number of homes sold during 2010 if sales maintained the September pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors in home sales.
“October’s home sales figures reflect the seasonal decline in sales that typically occurs this time of year,” said CAR President Beth Peerce, who also noted that persistent worries about the economy and job security are dragging sales down in spite of low mortgage rates.
Peerce, the broker-owner of Prime Time Properties in Studio City, also pointed out that the significant year-over-year sales decline reflects particularly strong sales in October and November 2009, when buyers were rushing to beat the then-anticipated expiration of the federal tax credit at the end of November 2009.
According to CAR’s chief economist, Leslie Appleton-Young, California currently has two distinct housing markets: “One at the lower-end driven by first-time buyers and investors, which is keeping prices stable, and one with nostalgic sellers who set unrealistic asking prices.”
The association also reported that the inventory of unsold single-family detached houses stood at 6.5 months in October, up slightly from 6.1 months in September but a 60-day jump from the 4.2 months’ supply in October 2009.
And in another key benchmark, it took 53.4 days on average to sell an existing single-family residence in October vs. 34.1 days in October a year ago.
