April home sales for Southern California sold at the fastest pace in seven years due to high levels of investor purchases and a strong demand for move-up housing units.
According to DataQuick, a total of 21,415 new and resale houses and condominiums sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in April, which is
However, the monthly figure was still down 11.8% from the April average of 24,291 sales.
Sales rose 35.4% year-over-year in the $300,000 to $800,000 price range—a range that would include many move-up buyers. The number of properties that sold for $500,000 or more skyrocketed by 52.7% from one year earlier and was at the highest level in over five and a half years. Lastly, sales of homes that are $800,000 or more increased 51.4% on an annual basis.
In April, 29.9% of all Southland homes sold for at least $500,000, the highest for any month since April 2008 when 31.1% of sales reached or crossed the $500,000 threshold.
On the other hand, the number of homes that sold below $200,000 last month declined 29.8% year-over-year, while sales below $300,000 dipped 21.1%. DataQuick attributed the decline not to a lack of demand, but low supply since many homeowners can’t afford to put their properties up for sale since they are underwater and because
“This is a market that is still rebalancing. Sales of deeply discounted properties in affordable neighborhoods are way down. Activity in middle and high-end communities is on its way up,” said John Walsh, president of DataQuick. “Now it's catch-up time, with a healthier economy spurring more demand and rising prices tempting more people to put their homes up for sale.”
The San Diego-based real estate information provider said absentee buyers—mostly investors and some second home purchasers—bought 30.2% of the Southland homes sold in April. At the same time, cash buyers accounted for 33.5% of last month’s home sales.
DataQuick noted that the portion of all homes sold to absentee and cash buyers fell month-over-month but remained higher than a year ago near peak levels.
Meanwhile, foreclosure resales—homes foreclosed on in the prior 12 months—accounted for 12.4% of the market, representing the lowest percentage since it was 10% in August 2007, and short sales made up an estimated 17.7% of Southland resales last month.
