Southland Home Sales Slow but Prices Still Climb

The once-frantic pace of home sales slowed in Southern California last month, but the median price rose 22.1% to a record $409,000 as buyers continued to outnumber sellers, especially in the Inland Empire.

Homes in more expensive areas saw the biggest decline in the number of homes sold when compared with September 2003.

Transactions in Orange County dropped 27.7% to their lowest level for a September since 1996, and Ventura County fell 18.5%, DataQuick Information Systems reported Thursday. Both counties hit new median price peaks, however, at $533,000 and $540,000 respectively.

“The real estate cycle is playing itself out in predictable fashion,” said DataQuick President Marshall Prentice. “The home categories which first picked up steam six or seven years ago are now leveling off. Mid- and entry-level markets, which kicked into gear a year or two ago, are still doing well.”

Riverside County saw almost 3% more sales in September than it did a year ago as the median price -- the point at which half the homes sold for more, half for less -- leaped 29.5%, to $338,000.

Sales in San Bernardino were up 1.3% as the median price took the biggest jump in the region, up 33.2% to $265,000.

The inventory of homes for sale in the Inland Empire has grown in the last few months and a degree of sanity has been restored to the business, said Kevin Nicholson, an agent at San Clemente-based Pacificon Realty, which serves the region.

“People are getting used to not seeing 10 offers on every house within 30 seconds” of hitting the market, he said.

Buyers are more relaxed these days because mortgage rates have remained relatively stable despite recent rate increases by the Federal Reserve, Nicholson said, and buyers are finding sellers more willing to negotiate repairs and other sales issues than they were a few months ago.

Sales were down 7.8% in Los Angeles County, but the median price rose more than 21% to $407,000. San Diego County saw a 9.3% drop in home sales but the median price rose 23.1% to $407,000.

In Southern California overall, sales were down 8.7%.

Indicators of market distress still are largely absent, said DataQuick analyst John Karevoll.

“Foreclosure rates are low, down-payment sizes are stable and shifts in the market mix are minor,” he said. “There are no signs of impending drastic changes in the market.”

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Higher and lower

Sales and median prices for new and resold homes Percent Percent Number change Median change of homes from price from County sold Sep.Õ03 (thousands) Sep.Õ03 San Bernardino 4,064 +1.3% $265 +33.2% Ventura 1,240 Ð18.5 415 +30.1 Riverside 5,375 +2.9 338 +29.5 Orange 3,585 Ð27.7 431 +23.7 San Diego 5,177 Ð9.3 480 +23.1 LA 10,501 Ð7.8 407 +21.1 So. Cal 29,942 Ð8.7 409 +22.1

Source: DataQuick Information Systems