Nondistressed Home Sales 80% of California Market in June

The California Association of Realtors said nondistressed home sales in the state during June made up four of every five transactions, while deals involving real estate owned properties reached their lowest point since September 2007.

Distressed sales (which besides REO also include short sales plus a small amount of “not specified” sales) made up slightly more than 20% of the market, down from 22% in May and 42% in June 2012.

Short sales made up 13% of sales, down from 21% one year ago. REO sales were 7%, down from 20% in June 2012.

The June Unsold Inventory Index for nondistressed properties was 3.1 months, up from 2.8 months in May.

However, rising rates caused the Pending Home Sales Index to fall to 114.3, compared with 122.1 in May and 120.9 in June 2012.

CAR had previously announced that existing home sales for June was a seasonally adjusted 414,950 units, down 3.8% from May and 3.7% from June 2012. The median sales price increased 2.7% to $428,502 from May’s $417,350. It was up 35.5% from June 2012’s $320,990.

“Despite a small increase in inventory, the supply of housing remains tight in most parts of the state and continues to fuel home price increases,” said CAR president Don Faught. “The surge in home prices in the past year has given homeowners with previous underwater properties an opportunity to become trade-up buyers.

“However, many are finding this difficult because they either lack sufficient cash for a downpayment or they are concerned that if they sell, they will have no place to go, given limited inventory. Others may be waiting on the sidelines for values to gain even more before selling, which further contributes to tight inventory.”