Southern California Home Prices for March 2013

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Median price hits 56 month high, up 23.4 percent from March of last year.  Much of that increase however, can be attributed to a big change in product mix as sales in higher priced neighborhoods have shot up and a sharp drop in lower end deals.

A total of 20,581 new and resale houses sold last month.  That’s up 29.1 percent from the 15,945 sold in February and up 3.1 percent from March 2012.  Sales normally jump 36 percent from February to March.  March’s sales were the highest since 2007 with a long term average of 24,254 for the month.

“It’s remarkable how much the housing scene has changed in a year. At this point in 2012 there were still plenty of folks sitting on the market’s sidelines, waiting to be sure the recovery was real. But gradually the psychology shifted as the economy picked up steam and mortgage rates fell to historic lows. We’re seeing the release of a lot of pent-up demand, especially in the middle and higher-priced neighborhoods where activity had been sluggish for years,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

“Price measures continue to rise for two simple reasons,” Walsh added. “First, demand for homes has risen at a time when the available supply is unusually low. Prices have had nowhere to go but up in many areas. Second, the gains are especially high right now because of the change in market mix: Sales of lower-cost homes have fallen at the same time activity in the higher price ranges has risen.”

Foreclosures have fallen off of the map, down to 13.9 of the market mix from 31.5 percent a year earlier.  We haven’t seen a number that low since September 2007.  Similarly, short sales have fallen to 21.5 percent.

What we’re seeing is a market that’s finally in full recovery and I expect even better news as the selling seasons gets underway.