California Real Estate Sales show positive movement
Thursday, January 19th, 2012
The real estate market in Palm Springs is heating up again. At The Paul Kaplan Group, we had the best December in years, selling over 14 homes in December, which is normally the slowest month of the year.
The California Association of Realtors posted the following press release- California home sales rise in December, posting 11-month sales high, C.A.R. reports
LOS ANGELES (Jan. 17) – California home sales rose for the third consecutive
month in December, marking the highest level since January 2011, according to
data from the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.). Sales also were up
from a year ago, marking the sixth consecutive annual increase.
“With the economy slowly improving, home buyers – investors and first-time
buyers alike – took advantage of affordable interest rates and made a push to
close escrow by the end of year,” said C.A.R. President LeFrancis Arnold.
“Robust sales over the past few months signal the housing market is treading
above water on its own in the first full year without the government stimulus
that has helped housing in the last couple of years.”
Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California
totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 520,940 in December, according
to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations
and MLSs statewide. December’s sales were up 3.3 percent from November’s
revised pace of 504,420 and were up 0.1 percent from the revised 520,330 sales
pace recorded in December 2010. The statewide sales figure represents what
would be the total number of homes sold during 2011 if sales maintained the
December pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal
factors that typically influence home sales.
The statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home posted
its second consecutive monthly gain, increasing 1.8 percent to $285,920 in
December, up from a revised $280,960 in November. However, the median price was
down 6.2 percent from the revised $304,770 median price recorded in December
2010.
“Fourth quarter sales were stronger than we expected, thanks to recent
improving consumer confidence and an economy that’s slowly showing signs of
growth. As a result, sales came in slightly above our fall projection,” said
C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. “For 2011 as a
whole, sales reached a preliminary 497,860 homes sold statewide, up 1.1 percent
from the 492,290 homes sold in 2010. However, the statewide median price
declined 6.3 percent for the year, to reach a preliminary $285,950, down from
the revised $305,010 recorded in 2010.
“Home prices are stabilizing for the distressed market, where we see robust
demand, but we continue to see downward pressure on home prices in some higher
end markets,” said Appleton-Young.
Other key facts of C.A.R.’s December 2011 resale housing report include:
- Housing inventory remains tight throughout California, with the Unsold
Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes declining to 4.2
months in December, down from 5.0 months in November and down from a 5.0-month
supply in December 2010. The index indicates the number of months needed to
deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate. - Thirty-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 3.96 percent during
December 2011, down from 4.71 percent in December 2010, according to Freddie
Mac. Adjustable-mortgage interest rates averaged 2.79 percent in December 2011,
compared with 3.31 percent in December 2010. - The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home edged up to
58.7 days in December 2011, compared with a revised 58.0 days for the same
period a year ago.
For more information on Palm Springs real estate, visit www.PaulKaplanGroup.com








































