Jan 2010 California Median Home Prices

C.A.R. reports January median price increased 15 percent; home sales decreased 10.6 percent.

The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during January 2010 was $287,440, a 15 percent increase from the revised $249,960 median for January 2009, C.A.R. reported. The January 2010 median price decreased 6.3 percent compared with December’s $306,820 median price.

For the overall San Francisco Bay Area, the median price was $486190, which is a 9.3% decrease from prior month, and 20.7% higher than the same period last year.

Quick Facts:
- Existing, single-family home sales decreased 3 percent in January to a seasonally adjusted rate of 539,040 units on an annualized basis compared with December 2009.

- The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 33.8 days in January 2010, compared with 50 days (revised) for the same period a year ago.C.A.R.’s Unsold Inventory Index fell to 5.8 months in January, compared with 7.3 months in January 2009.

- Thirty-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 5.03 percent during January 2010, compared with 5.05 percent in January 2009, according to Freddie Mac. Adjustable-mortgage interest rates averaged 4.33 percent in January 2010, compared with 4.92 percent in January 2009.

- C.A.R.’s Unsold Inventory Index fell to 5.8 months in January, compared with 7.3 months in January 2009.
- The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 33.8 days in January 2010, compared with 50 days (revised) for the same period a year ago.

“Many sales that closed escrow in January were on homes with offers accepted during the holiday season--a time when many house hunters are first-time buyers,” said C.A.R. President Steve Goddard. “First-time buyers typically purchase homes priced below an area’s median home price. Reflecting this, the percentage of homes priced under $500,000 increased to 77 percent of all sales in January, compared with 75 percent in December.

“Despite the year-to-year decline, sales remained above the 500,000 unit threshold for the 17th consecutive month, holding steady at pre-peak levels from early in the last decade,” said Goddard.

Clicks here for more analysis and summary of regional sales and price activity, as well as median price in each county and city.

If you are interested in finding out the median price and sales data for a particular neighborhood or city, please send me an email to meimei@calMBArealty.com to let me know.