April 2013 California Median Home Prices- median price surpassing the $400,000-mark for the first time in five years

The statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home climbed 6.3 percent from March’s revised median price of $378,960 to $402,760 in April, signaling the first time since April 2008 that the statewide median price has exceeded the $400,000 mark (and was the highest since then). April’s price was up 28.9 percent from a revised $312,500 recorded in April 2012, marking 14 straight months of annual price increases and the tenth consecutive month of double-digit annual gains.

For the overall San Francisco Bay Area, the median price was $685,530, which is 7.8% higher than prior month's $636,150 ,and 30.2% higher than the same period last year of $526,370.

Other key facts of C.A.R.’s April 2013 resale housing report include:

• The available supply of homes for sale was essentially unchanged from March, but was down markedly from a year ago. The April Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes was 2.8 months in April, down from 2.9 months in March, and down from 4.2 months in April 2012. The index indicates the number of months needed to sell the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate. A six- to seven-month supply is considered normal.

• Increased market competition has significantly driven down the time on market compared with a year ago. Homes sold more quickly in April, with the median number of days it took to sell a single-family home decreasing to 27.9 days in April, down from 29.4 days in March and down from a revised 48 days for the same period a year ago.

• Mortgage rates dipped in April, with the 30-year fixed-mortgage interest rate averaging 3.45 percent, down from 3.57 percent in March 2013 and down from 3.91 percent in April 2012, according to Freddie Mac. Adjustable-mortgage interest rates were flat from March, averaging 2.63 percent in April, but down from 2.78 percent in April 2012.

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