Bay Area home sales hit 4-year high in July
Deals over $500,000 continued to increase, and the median sale price climbed above the prior month for the fourth month in a row. The median price of a home in the nine-county Bay Area climbed to $395,000, which is up 12.2% from the median of $352,000 in June 2009, but down 16.0% from the $470,000 price in July of 2008. The July 2009 median was 36.2% higher than the current cycle’s low of $290,000 reported in March 2009, but it was still 40.6% below the peak median price of $665,000 reached in June and July of 2007.
The gain in the median price between June and July of 2009 resulted from a shift toward a greater portion of sales in higher priced neighborhoods as the result of “more distress” in high-end areas and more motivated sellers, more buyers who sensed that a bottom could be near, and the increased availability of larger home loans. Loans above $417,000 accounted for 30% of Bay Area home sales in July 2009.
Lower-end foreclosures “dried up” during July, and July sales of sub-$300,000 existing single-family houses dropped to 37.8% of the sales.
A total of 8771 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine-county Bay Area in July of 2009, up 1.5% from June 2009 and up 15.6% from July of 2008.
The MDA DataQuick report has an abundance of other fascinating statistics. According to the report, the housing market in the San Francisco Bay Area and the rest of California is moving gradually back to a more normal balance of sales across all price ranges.
-Bill at Cheshire Cat Photo™
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