California Home Sales Down Slightly

Dec 22, 2017

On Jan. 10, 2020, California Gov. Gavin Newsom released a state budget summary for 2020-2021 which includes a proposal for a new California Consumer Financial Protection Law and the creation of a state-level version of the Consumer Financial Protection Bu

November home sales in California took a mild drop from a year ago while the median sales price scored their greatest year-over-year gain since January 2016, according to new data from the California Association of Realtors (CAR).

Last month saw 440,340 existing single-family homes sold, which is up 2.1 percent from October but down 0.8 percent from November 2016. CAR attributed the year-over-year decline to an uncommonly strong sales volume last November.

The $546,820 November median price was a scant 0.1 percent above October’s $546,430 price, but it was a substantial 8.8 percent spike from the revised $502,490 recorded in November 2016. The year-over-year gain was the highest since January 2016. Forty-five of the state’s 51 counties recorded a year-over-year price increase, with 23 experiencing double-digit growth rates. The Bay Area saw the most aggressive price appreciation with a 12.5 percent regional annual price increase.

California’s housing inventory remained a problem, with the statewide unsold inventory index falling from three months in October to 2.9 months in November. The median number of days to sell a single-family home in November was 22 days compared with 30 days in November 2016.

“The state’s housing market performed better than we anticipated in November, despite a slowdown in sales activity in the second half of the year,” said 2018 CAR President Steve White. “While high-priced markets have performed well in recent months, sales remain lackluster in the lower-priced segments as the supply of affordable homes continues to shrink. This tale of two markets is not a story that we enjoy telling as the dichotomy in the market is posing some affordability challenges to many potential homebuyers who want to enter the market.”

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Phil Hall

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Dec 22, 2017

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