California Home Sales Remain Flat in May

June 17, 2011 (Shirley Allen)

Sales of new and re-sale homes and condos in California remained flat in May 2011 as an estimated 35,536 properties were sold, up 0.9 percent from April’s 35,202 sales, according to the real estate experts at DataQuick.

Year-over-year sales were down 13.3 percent from 40,965 sales in May 2010. Historically, California averages 46,840 sales in the month of May.

The median price for a home in May remained unchanged at $249,000 compared to April and is down 10.4% from a median price of $278,000 in May of 2010. The statewide current cycle peak price was $484,000 in early 2007.

Distressed properties continued to dominate the California market as 53 percent of all re-sales in May were distressed sales.

Properties that had been foreclosed on in the previous twelve months made up 35.5 percent of the existing home sales in May. That was virtually unchanged from the 35.4 percent observed in May of last year and was down from the 36.4 percent observed in the previous month of April 2011.

Short sales increased to 17.9 percent of re-sales last month compared to 16.9 percent in April and down from 18.9 percent in May of 2010.

Falling home prices and interest rates helped bring the typical mortgage payment down to $1,025 in May, slightly lower than April’s typical payment of $1,050, but significantly lower than the $1,178 observed in May 2010. May’s typical mortgage payment is 61.5 percent lower than it was during the current cycle’s peak in June 2006.

“Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity has declined somewhat but remains high by historical standards. Financing with multiple mortgages is low, down payment sizes are stable, cash and non-owner occupied buying has eased a bit this spring but remains relatively high,” DataQuick reported.

Tags: DataQuick, new and re-sale homes, condos, sales, median home prices, distressed properties, short sales, typical mortgage payment

Source:
DataQuick