The statewide average sale price for a new or previously owned home was $168,212 in August, up 4.5 percent on an annual basis.
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But in a recent survey, Realtors continued to express optimism about growth and profitability. The statewide median price for townhouse-condo properties in August was $160,000, up 6.7% over the year-ago figure. Short sales were on the market the longest at a median of 144 days in August, while foreclosures sold in 42 days and non-distressed homes took 35 days.
One exception for the region was Kern County, where pending sales have been dropping significantly due to a decline in oil prices and the economys reliance on the energy sector. The two-month trend came a period of steady gains that have lifted home sales up 3 percent so far this year.
In the West, sales rose 7.5% annually, with 115,000 abodes being bought in August. A strong 14.8 percent increase in pending sales in Santa Clara County drove the improvement in the Bay Area, as well as double-digit pending sales gains in San Francisco (10.4 percent) and San Mateo (11.9 percent) counties.
The median percent of original list price received for single-family homes was 96.0 percent in August 2016, a decrease of 0.1 percent. Those price tags were still 5.1% higher than the same time a year ago. The median price in the West was $347,400, up 9.2% compared with the August 2015 median.
A regional breakdown shows that existing home sales in the Northeast rose 6.1% to an annual rate of 700,000 and is unchanged from a year ago.
Like in Miami-Dade, the median single-family home price was also up in Broward, jumping 5.9 percent to $325,000. The number of properties for sale is dwindling despite buyer enthusiasm. New listings of Miami single-family homes increased 5.1 percent from 1,697 in August of past year to 1,784 last month.
Miami real estate home prices have risen for 57 consecutive months, a streak spanning almost five years. The bulk of cash sales were completed by individual investors, who snapped up 13 percent of all homes in August, compared to just 12 percent in August 2015.
“Hopes of a meaningful sales breakthrough as a result of this summer’s historically low mortgage rates failed to materialize because supply and affordability restrictions continue to keep too many would-be buyers on the sidelines”, explained Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, in a statement. Realtors also were concerned about inflated home prices/housing bubble, a slowdown in economic growth, lending and financing, rising interest rates, and policy and regulations.
Inventory data from Realtor.com® reveals that the metropolitan statistical areas where listings stayed on the market the shortest amount of time in August were San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif., San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif., and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash., all at a median of 33 days; Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo., 36 days; and Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif., at a median of 37 days.
But drastically fewer sellers are coming into the market. However, a single month’s worth of data is rarely enough information to make assertions about a market’s direction. It wasn’t a standout month, but it wasn’t a bad one, either. An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2008.
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“There are still so many more buyers out there than inventory”, she said. Approximately 300 Realtors responded.
