California March 2007 Home Sales: Prices Higher

A total of 39,800 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That's up 27.5 percent from 31,228 for February, and down 31.0 percent from 57,675 for March 2006. An increase from February to March is normal for the season. Last month's sales made for the slowest March since 1997 when 36,498 homes were sold. March sales from 1988 to 2007 range from 29,356 in 1993 to 68,848 in 2005. The average is 46,256.

The median price paid for a home last month was $484,000, a new record. That was up 2.5 percent from February's $472,000, and up 3.0 percent from $470,000 for March a year ago. full story

• Bay Area home prices up, sales still slow - The median price paid for a Bay Area home moved up in March, regaining much of the decline since last summer even as sales remained at the lowest level in 11 years, a real estate information service reported.
• The median price paid for a home in the nine-county Bay Area was $639,000 last month ... up 2.1 percent from $626,000 for March last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
• A total of 8,317 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the Bay Area last month. That was ... down 19.6 percent from 10,343 for March last year.
• Slow sales, record median for Southland homes - Southern California's housing market continued to send contradicting messages in March. Sales remained at a ten-year low while the median sales price increased to a new peak. The rise in median is in part due to a drop-off in sales of entry-level homes, a real estate information service reported.
• A total of 21,856 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was up 23.6 percent from 17,680 for the month before, and down 32.4 percent from 32,320 for March last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
• Last month's sales were the lowest for any March since 1997 when 20,024 homes were sold.
• The median price paid for a Southland home was $505,000 in March, a new record and the first time it was above $500,000.

A few thoughts from me:

1. How, after all this time, can we say it's a housing bubble with prices still rising is some areas? We can't.
2. However, prices have declined slightly in some zip codes and in San Francsico for the first time since 1993.
3. The Rent vs. Own debate is all over the blogsphere this week. It's a false and silly debate "created" by intellectuals and economists based on charts and numbers. To which I say that it can only be broken down by market. One problem though: owning your home is not based (should not) on economics but rather on emotion that includes the feeling of comfort, security and pleasure. However, in most markets, the "owning" still makes more financial sense over renting when running the numbers over anything more than 2 years.
4. Any chance that the bubble bloggers' obsession with NAR's economist David Lereah will end anytime soon? What a complete waste of time because no one knows this guy.

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