January 20, 2009
Sales of all homes rose 51% last month compared with a year earlier as bargain hunters continued to snap up foreclosures and other distressed properties. The median price of a Southland home slipped to $278,000, down 35% from December 2007, MDA DataQuick said.
With prices falling and lenders off-loading foreclosed properties at deep discounts, few want to pay "retail" for a new home, so builders have put the brakes on new construction.
"The builders are in a holding pattern, staying alive until the market recovers," MDA DataQuick President John Walsh said.
The home-building freeze should help clear the oversupply of homes.
Early in 2008, builders slashed prices to lure buyers for their glut of homes. But the foreclosure avalanche moved faster than builders' price cuts.
In January 2008, the median home sales price in Southern California was $415,000, and 23% of the homes sold had been foreclosures. By year-end, 56% of homes sold had been foreclosures, pulling the median sales price down to $278,000.
The lowest December median sales prices were reported in San Bernardino County ($180,000) and Riverside County ($209,000), where foreclosures have been rampant. The Inland Empire had also been among the busiest regions for home building, but builders can seldom compete with the low prices of foreclosed homes.
For now, home building has largely ceased because of the glut of properties on the market.
Los Angeles County's median sales price of $320,00 was down 32% from December 2007, while Orange County's median price fell 30% to $397,000. San Diego County's median price dropped 30% to $300,000. Ventura County's median was $338,000, down 36% from a year earlier.
The typical monthly mortgage payment that Southland buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,239 last month, DataQuick estimated. That was down from a revised $1,380 for November, and down from a revised $2,060 for December 2007.
