California January Home Sales
February 24, 2005
dqnews.com
MY COMMENT: Some positives on housing.
La Jolla,CA----A total of 42,300 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That's down 27.7 percent from 58,500 for December and up 6.4 percent from 39,750 for January 2004. An decrease from December to January is normal for the season. Last month was the strongest January in DataQuick's records, which go back to 1988.
The median price paid for a home last month was $400,000. That was down 1.2 percent from $405,000 for December and up 20.5 percent from $332,000 for January a year ago. A December-to-January decline is also normal for the season because December always has a high sales count of newly-built homes, which generally cost more than resale homes.
The typical mortgage payment that home buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,756. That was down from $1,785 in December, and up from $1,454 for January a year ago. The typical payment hit $1,814 last June when interest rates were somewhat higher.
DataQuick, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates, monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts. The numbers cover all sales, new and resale, houses and condos.
Market stress indicators are still very low: Down payments are stable, speculation buying is moderate, there are no significant shifts in market mix and default rates are low. A recent rise in ARM usage has leveled off. Earlier increases in non owner-occupied purchase activity and flipping activity have leveled off. |
