Did recent statistics for home sales in the Southern California region beat estimates?”
First American LoanPerformance says Calif ornia home prices were falling at a 22.48% annual pace in late March, again, worst in the nation. Next in this dubious line was Florida (-17.41%), then Nevada (-16.67%), Arizona (-16.32%), and Ohio (-10.78%.) California has been at the bottom of this national ranking since May. (What’s behind the price slump? Golden State foreclosures are soaring. READ HERE!) The nation’s top performer was Utah, with 4.9% annualized gains, the second consecutive month that state’s taken the crown. (As an aside, with an eye to today’s Democratic primary: Pennsylvania home prices are falling at 6.46%, the nation’s 36th ranked market by this FALP math.
Last month’s median home price in the six-county region fell 33.2 percent to $308,500, compared to $462,000 in September 2007, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick. The September median price was 38.9 percent below the peak $505,000 median posted in spring and summer of last year. John Husing, an economist with Economics & Politics Inc., a consulting firm, said the ample supply of discounted, foreclosed homes has kept downward pressure on prices. Once foreclosures start drying up, prices will stabilize, but that could take another year, he said. “The flow of foreclosures is enough to meet demand,” he said. Foreclosure resales amounted to half of all transactions last month, easily pushing sales beyond the dismal, record lows of a year ago, when a credit crunch began slamming the brakes on home financing. “The pitifully low September 2007 sales numbers weren’t tough to beat,” said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president. Andrew LePage, an analyst with MDA DataQuick, said it’s hard to
