photo credit: mrpattersonsir
Real estate sales and Southern California are finally lifting off record-low levels, a leading housing statistics firm said.
MDA DataQuick revealed 19,926 homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month.
This was 19.2 per cent higher than the 16,720 November total and was up 50.5 per cent on the 13,240 homes sold in December 2007.
Regional real estate deals had been at their lowest in 20 years since September 2007 through the summer of 2008, but were now “off the bottom” the company said.
John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president, said real estate builders were sitting tight in the hope the market recovered, while interest rates on housing loans were reaching record lows.
Mr Walsh said:
“It does look like the spigot is being opened a little bit, at least for low-cost home purchases.”
The company also collects data on housing loans and revealed Countrywide, Bank of America and Wells Fargo were currently the most active in lending to those purchasing homes.
While lending for housing buys appears to be loosening, real estate prices are sliding, with the median price for a south California home at $278,000, down 2.5 percent from $285,000 for November, and down 34.6 percent from $425,000 for December a year ago.
The median price for homes in San Bernardino is currently falling the fastest, down 42.90 per cent on 12 months ago. Housing in Orange county has seen the lowest falls in value, with homes there still fetching a median price of $397,000.
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