Real Estate Recovery in So. California: Home Sales Increase 13th Straight Month, Prices 3rd Month

DQNews -- Southern California homes sold last month at the fastest clip for a July in three years and the fastest pace for any month since December 2006. The median price paid rose slightly from June – marking the third consecutive month-to-month gain – as sales in pricier coastal areas continued to rise and sales of lower-cost foreclosures waned.

A total of 24,104 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties last month. That was up 3.6% from 23,262 in June and up 18.6% from 20,329 a year ago (see chart above).

Sales have increased year-over-year for 13 consecutive months. They’ve been driven higher by increased affordability, low mortgage rates, plentiful government-insured FHA financing for first-time buyers, robust investor demand and, more recently, improved access to the “jumbo” financing used to buy more expensive homes.

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Southland last month was $268,000, up 1.1% from $265,000 in June but down 23% from $348,000 a year ago. July was the third consecutive month in which the median rose on a month-to-month basis.

MP: A 29% increase in home sales compared to July of last year, 13 consecutive monthly increases in home sales compared to the same month in the previous year, and rising median home prices for three months in a row - all signs point to a recovery in the Southern California real estate market.