Southern California Home Prices Rise on Tax Credits
A realty sign stands in front of a home in Long Beach, California. Photographer: Tim Rue/Bloomberg
Southern California house and condominium prices rose 13 percent in June from a year earlier as buyers took advantage of state tax credits and low interest rates, research company MDA DataQuick said.
The median price climbed to $300,000, MDA DataQuick said today in a statement. The report encompasses Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties, the San Diego-based company said.
Rates for 30-year fixed mortgages fell to the lowest on record for the third straight week on July 8, reducing borrowing costs for homebuyers, according to mortgage-finance company Freddie Mac. In California, buyers can qualify for a tax credit of as much as $10,000 under a program that began May 1.
“We’re still seeing lots of bargain hunting, and we’re not seeing much discretionary buying,” John Walsh, president of MDA DataQuick, said in the statement. “The single-biggest issue is still mortgage financing. Rates may be at record lows, but that doesn’t mean much if the lender won’t qualify you.”
A total of 23,871 new and existing homes sold last month in the six Southern California counties tracked by MDA DataQuick, up 7.2 percent from May and 2.6 percent from a year earlier. The sales count was the highest since July 2009, when 24,104 homes sold, the research company said.
Sales of foreclosed homes accounted for almost a third of the resale market, down from 45 percent a year earlier. The proportion reached a record of almost 57 percent in February 2009, MDA DataQuick said.
Orange County
The number of homes sold rose in Orange, San Diego, Los Angeles and Ventura counties, and fell in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, MDA DataQuick said. The biggest rise was in Orange County, where sales gained 16 percent to 3,423.
On an annual basis, prices rose in all six Southern California counties. They climbed the most in San Bernardino County, where the median gained 14 percent from a year earlier to $160,000.
MDA DataQuick is a unit of Richmond, British Columbia-based MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates Ltd. It compiles surveys using county records and supplies real-estate information to public agencies, lenders and title companies.
To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Taub in Los Angeles at dtaub@bloomberg.net.
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