http://orange.idx.prucalrealty.net/details.aspx?firstrecord=20&=&VIP=Yahoo!+IDX&cc=realestate&fclose=n&newhome=n&za=and&fullnodeid=750007077&searchgeo=Compton%2c+CA&searchtype=2&propertytype=1&sort=5&sortacdc=desc
Posted on 06/15/2005 12:48:38 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
Southern California home prices rocketed to new highs again last month, but the rate of appreciation appeared to have flattened out, data released today.
The median price paid for a Southern California home rose 15.2% on a year-over-year basis to $456,000 in May, setting a record. Yet, the pace of the increase was on par with the rate of change in April, when the median rose 15% to $445,000.
Pushing prices higher has been a relentless stream of eager buyers. Home sales in May were nearly as strong as a year ago when they set a record. Last month, a total of 30,886 new and resale homes changed hands in the six-county region. That was down just 0.9% from a year ago.
"There just aren't enough homes for sale to meet demand," said John Karevoll, chief analyst for DataQuick Information Systems, which reports regional housing information each month.
Nonetheless, Southern California's housing market is slowing from its peak, which looks to have been reached a year ago when the year-over-year price increase soared nearly 27%.
In many ways, the Southland is fast becoming a tale of two housing markets.
Prices in the Inland Empire are still accelerating at a red-hot pace of more than 25% year over year, while the rest of the region is showing definite signs of chilling out.
For the first time in almost five years, Orange County's median price dipped to a gain of less than 10% in May, and San Diego's year-over-year increase was 7.5%, the slowest rate of change in five years. Los Angeles prices, too, are losing speed, rising 16.5% last month to $459,000, the slowest rate of appreciation in three years.
Indeed, Southern California's housing market is no longer on the same fast track.
"The region now is starting to behave differently,"
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
The bubble is starting to burst?
Well, some Federal Bank lady said Las Vegas would be deflating rapidly yesterday....
Heard some folks talking about home sales in Glen Cove, one of the nicer subdivision in Vallejo, Ca. Homes there had been appreciating rapidly, when one went up for sale, it'd be snapped up in days, with multiple offers. Now, homes are staying on the market for 5-6 weeks. I'd say that things are slowing down. When tract homes in subdivisions are going for upwards of 3/4 of a million dollars, how can prices continue to climb at 25-30% a year, as they had been doing? Salaries aren't climbing to keep up with that pace.
Wish they did that when I lived there back in the late 80's.
It's insanity. My first house, a tract I bought by myself in '66 for $19,500, recently sold for $525K. It was a nothing house then. I should have kept renting it out all these years. When I sold it for $65K, I thought I'd made a killing...lol.
Of course, what the article doesn't mention is that it's a lot easier to go up at a high percentage when your baseline is a lot lower. And I'll bet the base price for homes in the Inland Empire is considerably lower than on the coast.
05 Assessments here have reached as high as a 29% INCREASE! Sounds as if some people are trying to raise new revenue...
You know, even if housing prices remain flat (ie - no dip) ALOT of people are going to get hurt - they bought into housing they couldn't afford and now can not unload it for a nice gain - meanwhile they have to pay taxes, utilities and a mortgage on a house they can not afford to keep and will lose money (remember, it cost between 5%-10% of the value of a house to sell it)... And the kicker? The majority of loans today are "interest only" loans - ie - nothing goes toward your equity...
Glen Cove is still on the low side price wise for the bay area at large. I've not heard anything near like what you are talking about yet except when sellers get ridiculous. I follow the bay area housing market as a very interested amateur and I'm seeing well priced houses still going in one week and often in days. I'm still hoping for a very easy slowdown and then sideways will be great.
http://orange.idx.prucalrealty.net/details.aspx?firstrecord=20&=&VIP=Yahoo!+IDX&cc=realestate&fclose=n&newhome=n&za=and&fullnodeid=750007077&searchgeo=Compton%2c+CA&searchtype=2&propertytype=1&sort=5&sortacdc=desc
You know, the press missed the tech bust so badly they are now trying to cause the housing bust so they can say they reported it.
The media should leave it alone and it will do fine.
Please, someone, tell me how the average family pays over half a million for an average house. I see these couples on the house hunter program on HGTV who look like the run of the mill couple with a couple of kids and they're looking to buy or sell a house for $600,000. How?????? Why don't I ever see or read anything about the money to handle mortgages like these?
That looks like a house from the set of "Boyz 'n the Hood"...does it come with bulletproof windows?
key issue is whether rising prices are due to true supply/demand issues, or if it is just a frenzy of everyone wanting to buy since it keeps going up.
I mean, paying 500k for a 2 bedroom shack seems like a great idea if it will be 750k in 2 years.
Interest only loans.
JMJ! This is insanity. This will crash, and who will be stuck?
There were plenty of media reports on the tech bubble before it burst. The one who missed it, perhaps wilfully, were the wall st. analysts who continued to pimp shell companies.
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