Still riding a slow post-pandemic roller coaster, Southern California home sales are up strongly in the latest month to month indicator, although far from levels 12 months ago.
With the apparent stabilization of Fed rates for the moment, many experts have a positive view of the year’s numbers.
The latest housing report from the California Association of Realtors (CAR) shows single family house prices dropped 2.1% with a rise in sales of 17.6% in February.
The statewide median home price fell almost $16,000 on average (-2.2%) to $735,480 in February, representing a decrease of 4.8% vs February 2022 and a plunge of 18.3% from May 2022, and its recent peak of $900,170. It was the sixth straight month of price declines.
Observers are now naturally wondering if fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank will lead to less demand, or tighter lending, more unemployment, or whether it actually helps put the brakes on US inflation across the US thus allowing the Fed to back off on raising interest rates.
A recent C.A.R report also suggests that the drop in year-over-year sales may be due in part to the effects of the ongoing “atmospheric river” storms which have inundated California and may be making home sales logistically difficult.
Any difficulty in locating buyers and completing sales could also contribute to lower prices, said CAR. Illustratively, the median number of days to sell a California single-family home tripled to 28 days in February from nine days one year ago.
