Friday, April 17, 2015

March Home Sales In Orange County Hit Six-Year High

Orange County home sales took off in March, climbing 8.9 percent from March of last year, CoreLogic reported Thursday.
In all, 3,140 houses, condos and townhomes changed hands last month, the biggest monthly tally in eight months and the most sales for a March since 2006.
But prices overall were unchanged from year-ago levels.
The median selling price of an Orange County home – or the price at the midpoint of all sales – was $580,000, CoreLogic reported. Prices were up 4 percent, however, for existing single-family homes, which made up 61 percent of the March market.
While sales saw their first big year-over-year percentage gain in 1 1/2 years, the pace of homebuying has been depressed since late 2013 following a huge jump in home prices. Last month's sales also still were 14.5 percent below the March average.
Sales jumps occurred last month across the region, with Southern California housing transactions up 11.1 percent to 19,603.
“Sales increased year over year, which is something that's only happened in a few months over the past year,” said CoreLogic analyst Andrew LePage. “Sales have been hampered by low inventory, especially in the lower price ranges, rising prices and lingering credit hurdles.”
An increase in the number of homes for sale “could support higher sales and tame home price appreciation.”
Here's a breakdown of Southern California home sales and prices by county:
County/areaMarch median1 yr. ch.Sales1 yr. ch.
Orange$580,0000.0%3,1408.9%
Los Angeles$476,5009.5%6,65312.5%
Riverside$301,0004.3%3,2425.7%
San Bernardino$250,0008.7%2,28911.8%
San Diego$456,0006.8%3,46713.4%
Ventura$460,0007.0%81221.6%
Southern Calif.$425,0006.3%19,60311.1%

Read more...

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

February's 4% Home Price Gain Foretells Busy Spring

Orange County home values appear poised to take off again this spring, with sale prices up 4 percent in February, before the busy home buying season kicked off, Irvine-based CoreLogic reported Tuesday.
 
February’s gain represented the 33rd consecutive month of year-over-year house price gains in the county.
Nationwide, February home prices shot up 5.6 percent from February 2014 levels.
 
The nation’s gain was “the hottest home price appreciation prior to the spring selling season in nine years,” said CoreLogic CEO Anand Nallathambi.
 
If interest rates remain low and consumer confidence remains high, “we expect (U.S.) home prices to rise by an additional 5 percent over the next 12 months,” Nallathambi said.
 
Another indicator of a potential hot market: Orange County homebuyers launched 2,975 escrows in March, figures from Steve Thomas’ ReportsOnHousing.com show. That’s the highest number of escrows in nearly two years.
 
CoreLogic figures show Los Angeles County having the third-hottest housing market among the nation’s largest metro areas in February. House prices there were up 7.9 percent year over year, trailing only the 10.4 percent gain in Houston and the 9.3 percent increase in Dallas.
 
The Inland Empire posted an increase of 5.1 percent, seventh-highest among big metro areas. Orange County’s gain ranked eighth.

Read more...