Higher home prices are starting to shut out buyers in certain markets in California, particularly the Bay Area and some coastal regions, the state’s Realtor association declared.
Meanwhile, their counterparts in Florida said the housing market gained strength in the second quarter, with more closed sales, higher median prices, more pending sales and a shrinking inventory of homes for sale over the same period last year.
In California, the percentage of buyers who could afford to purchase a median-priced existing single-family property was 36% in 2Q13,
San Francisco and San Mateo counties (both in the Bay Area) were at 17% of buyers who could afford a median priced home in those market, the lowest percentage statewide. Both were down from 23% in 1Q13.
Affordability in Los Angeles was a bit higher, 37%, but this was down from 42% in 1Q13. For San Diego, it was 32%, down from 38%.
In Florida, the median sales price increased by 14% over 2Q12 to $170,000. That lower price point may be one of the reasons while Realtors in the state are happier about the rising prices than their counterparts in California.
Dean Asher, president of Florida’s Realtors, said the “housing market is continuing to improve and the growth is boosting the state’s economic recovery.”
Closed sales of existing homes were 63,173 for the quarter, up nearly 15%, while pending sales were up 29%.
Florida Realtors chief economist John Tuccillo said “while investors have been the major driving force in the market, we are beginning to see more owner-occupants enter the market. This is an encouraging sign.”
