Southern California home prices, sales increase in November
The median price of homes in Southern California rose double digits for the fourth consecutive month, underscoring strong demand for homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The median price for the six-county area was $ 603,000 in November, a 10.8% increase from the previous year, according to data released Thursday by DQNews.
Sales increased by 18.9% compared to November 2019.
Experts say the rise in recent months is due to mortgage interest rates of around 2%, as well as a desire for extra space as people spend more time at home.
At the same time, millennials are increasingly entering their 30s, as many tend to buy a home for the first time, adding new demand to the market.
At homebuilder Irvine Tri Pointe Group, for example, home orders jumped 50% in the third quarter, and demand is strong from both first-time buyers and those moving up. , said Doug Bauer, chief executive of the company.
“The continued importance of the home during this pandemic has been magnified as if there is no tomorrow,” he said.
Southern California’s median selling price hit an all-time high in September, then edged down in October and November.
But that fits a seasonal trend in which prices tend to drop from September to October and then from October to November, said Selma Hepp, deputy chief economist at real estate firm CoreLogic, which provides the underlying data to DQNews.
Meanwhile, some individual counties continue to set or match price records. And the number of homes, condos and townhouses that sold in Southern California last month was also the highest for a November since 2006.
- In Los Angeles County, the median selling price rose 12.2% from the previous year to $ 700,000, while sales climbed 13.1%.
- In Orange County, the median selling price rose 8.2% to $ 799,500, while sales climbed 19.4%.
- In Riverside County, the median selling price rose 12.3% to a record high of $ 455,000, while sales climbed 20.1%.
- In San Bernardino County, the median selling price rose 14.3% to a record high of $ 400,000, while sales climbed 25.7%.
- In San Diego County, the median selling price rose 9.3% to a record high of $ 650,000, while sales climbed 23%.
- In Ventura County, the median selling price rose 14.4% to $ 663,750, while sales climbed 18.4%.
The large increases in the median reflect not only rising single-detached home values, but other factors as well.
Because the median is the point at which half of homes sold for more and half for less, it also reflects a change in the types of homes sold.
And one thing that has pushed up the median price so much is that members of higher income households are less likely to have lost their jobs during the pandemic, which experts say has led to a greater share of sales of homes in the luxury segment than last time. year.
CoreLogic compiles a home price index that attempts to account for these changes in the composition of home sales, although it is not as up to date as the median price data.
In October, the CoreLogic Index showed home prices were up 7% from the previous year in LA County. This compares to a 15% increase in the October median.