California continued to have a strong housing market this past season despite a slight autumn cooling for the rest of the country. In sunny California, where interest rates are low and inventory is even lower, the sales pace in November managed to remain above pre-pandemic levels, according to the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.).
November’s sales pace rose 4.7% from October and was down 10.7% from a year ago. Despite the fifth straight year-over-year sales decrease, statewide home sales maintained a 10.6% increase on a year-to-date basis.
“As we move further into the off-peak homebuying season, slowly rising interest rates will motivate savvy buyers to enter the market,” said 2022 C.A.R. President Otto Catrina, a Bay Area real estate broker and Realtor. “With fewer active buyers in the market during the holidays, prospective buyers who may have taken a breather during the heated peak homebuying months can take advantage of this window of opportunity when there's less competition and more homes to choose from.”
In November, the statewide median home price ($782,480) was down 2% from October ($798,440) and was up 11.9% from November 2020 ($698,980). The monthly statewide decline of 2% was higher than the long-run average of -0.1% recorded between October and November in the past 42 years, but consistent with the five-year-average between 2016 and 2020.
"California's winter housing market remains unseasonably resilient, despite market challenges of a lack of inventory, modest interest rate increases, and ongoing affordability issues," C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Jordan Levine said. "While we believe the market will continue to do well in 2022 as the economy further recovers, a widening imbalance between supply and demand will put upward pressure on prices and create headwinds for housing affordability that could slow sales in the upcoming year."
