First it was So Cal, now No Cal.. the California Comeback continues. The median price paid for a San Francisco Bay Area home jumped in May as more expensive homes started to sell again and the overall number of homes sold increased for the ninth month in a row.
The median price paid for a home in the nine-county region rose to $341,500, up 12.3 percent from $304,000 in April, but down 33.9 percent from $517,000 in May 2008, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego. The median’s rise over April marked the second consecutive month-to-month increase.
Last month’s $37,500 jump from April was due to an increase in sales of homes financed with home loans for more than $417,000, commonly called “jumbo” mortgages. They accounted for 25.5 percent of the Bay Area’s home sales last month, the highest since 25.8 percent last October. Two years ago it was more than 60 percent. Sales of $800,000-plus existing single-family houses rose to 13.2 percent of all house resales last month, up from 9.8 percent in April and the highest since they were 14.8 percent of sales last October. Sales of sub-$400,000 existing houses dropped to 57.5 percent of May sales, down from 62.2 percent in April and the lowest since 56.5 percent in November.
A total of 7,447 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine-county Bay Area last month. That was up 4.3 percent from 7,139 in April and up 19.8 percent from 6,216 in May 2008. The May 2008 sales were the lowest in DataQuick’s statistics, which go back to 1988. May sales have averaged 9,881 and peaked in May 2004 at 13,567 sales.
Last month 42.1 percent of all homes resold in the Bay Area had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months. A year ago the percentage was 27.7 percent, while the peak was 52.0 percent this February. By county, foreclosure resales ranged last month from 7.7 percent of all resales in San Francisco to 65.1 percent in Solano.
The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,443 last month, down from $2,458 a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, current payments are 44.6 percent below typical payments in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. They are 59.0 percent below the current cycle's peak in July 2007.
Foreclosure activity is off its recent peak but remains high by historical standards, while financing with adjustable-rate mortgages is at an all-time low, as is financing with multiple mortgages. Down payment sizes and flipping rates are stable, and non-owner occupied buying activity is above-average in some markets, MDA DataQuick reported.
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Sales Volume |
Median Price |
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All homes |
May-08 |
May-09 |
%Chng |
May-08 |
May-09 |
%Chng |
|
Alameda |
1,186 |
1,477 |
24.5% |
$475,000 |
$330,000 |
-30.5% |
|
Contra Costa |
1,206 |
1,694 |
40.5% |
$390,500 |
$234,500 |
-39.9% |
|
Marin |
226 |
220 |
-2.7% |
$899,000 |
$620,000 |
-31.0% |
|
Napa |
105 |
121 |
15.2% |
$475,000 |
$370,000 |
-22.1% |
|
Santa Clara |
1,467 |
1,688 |
15.1% |
$620,500 |
$445,000 |
-28.3% |
|
San Francisco |
593 |
498 |
-16.0% |
$790,000 |
$634,000 |
-19.7% |
|
San Mateo |
511 |
516 |
1.0% |
$708,000 |
$550,000 |
-22.3% |
|
Solano |
465 |
706 |
51.8% |
$300,000 |
$189,500 |
-36.8% |
|
Sonoma |
457 |
527 |
15.3% |
$415,000 |
$302,000 |
-27.2% |
|
Bay Area |
6,216 |
7,447 |
19.8% |
$517,000 |
$341,500 |
-33.9% |
Sales have been increasing for many months in California and as I've said, at some point prices will start to stabilize as well. We are now starting to see the signs of a pricing bottom. If you've missed my posts, please read this:
So Cal Home Prices Up 1st Time Since 2007
Housing Hits Bottom
California Home Price Bottom?
No. California Home Sales Up 7th Month
New Starts and Permits Down: Housing Bottom is Here
So. California Home Sales Up 9th Month in a Row
Many of you aren not prepared for this. You wish you were calling motivated sellers and REO lenders and their agents about their discounted properties but you don't have the money and your sure what to do, right? Let me start by saying there are deals out there, but not all sellers are equally motivated. You must know how to qualify those that are worth your time, versus those that are a waste. Then you must know what to offer them to lock in your 15% profit on your purchase. And you must know how to contract your deals so they get accepted by both your seller — as well as your money partner (to either flip your deal to fund your hard money loan). Yes, there's a lot involved, but I can help you.
This is exactly what I will be talking about in my next Mastering Mini Lab Live Webinar, Tuesday, June 23rd at 6pm PDT. You must register in advance as this is an interactive webinar, myself and my Panelist Investor Coach Mary Kay will be going over how to "Contract and Flip Your Deals to Investors" and will take your questions throughout the Call. And there are pre-requisites to attend. Call 800-310-7730 x2 for the details. Or visit: http://www.foreclosures.com/pages/mastering_community.asp
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