Signs of Life in California Home Sales

Though notably slower than a year ago, the pace of sales in California's new home communities picked up a tad between February and March, according to the state's builders. Sales in March at properties with at least 10 units were off 31% from the same month last year, but were up 13% from the preceding month, the California Building Industry Association reported. Still, only 2,189 new houses and apartments sold in the month in subdivisions tracked for the group by Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, Costa Mesa. Single-family sales were up by 5% from the previous month, but down 36% from a year earlier. Meanwhile, sales of townhouses and "plex" style units rose 24% from February but were off 32% from March 2009. Condo sales were up 37% on a month-to-month basis but down 16% year-over-year. The median price of the 2,189 sales was up 7% from last year, from $342,567 to $367,933. According to Hanley Wood's Jonathan Dienhart, the decline in year-over-year sales was due in part to the lower number of actively selling projects. "So while sales overall are off 30% from a year ago, the number of sales per project was off 10%," he said. "Still nothing to celebrate, but better than the 30 percent headline figure."