OC home market stronger than neighbors
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Orange County saw stronger gains in home sales and price compared to all other Southern California counties during April.
The median home price in Orange County jumped 13.2 percent since April 2009, to $430,000, according to DataQuick, a San Diego-based real estate information service. Also, the number of sales hiked 11.6 percent to 2,669 sales of new and resale homes during April.
And while it’s another positive sign that the housing market recovering, the median price in April is slightly lower than it was in March — $432,000 — and is well below the 2007 peak of $645,000.
“The market’s still taking baby steps on a long road to recovery, trying to find its footing,” said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president. “It’s unclear which of today’s sales characteristics are part of a new reality, and which are still temporary turbulence.”
The coastal counties have been performing well in recent months, nudging up the region’s median home price to $285,000, according to DataQuick. That’s 15.4 percent higher than in April 2009. One reason for the higher prices is that most of the region’s deeply discounted foreclosures have sold.
Looking forward to next month, May sales might be better than April, as people who rushed to sign a contract before the April 30 deadline for a federal home buyer tax credit would likely close escrow in May or June.
That will be welcome news for the region, which had a 1 percent dip in the number of homes sold during April — the first decline in almost two years.
A true test of the market may come in June when sales boosts from tax credits will have passed, said Patrick Duffy of MetroIntelligence Real Estate Advisors. “Hopefully the training wheels the federal government provided will help the housing market regain independence,” he said.
Tags: DataQuick, home prices, home sales
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