Rewind: SoCal home prices fall to 2004 levels

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Southern California’s historic housing slump worsened in March as bargain-hunters buying foreclosed properties pushed median sales prices down to levels last seen in early 2004, DataQuick reported today in another gloomy assessment of the regional housing market. DataQuick’s analysis shows California median home prices dropping by roughly $2,300 per week over the last year.

The typical spring ‘bounce’ in sales from February to March was the weakest ever measured by DataQuick, indicating the spring selling season is off to a historically weak start. Over the last 20 years, the average increase in home sales from February to March in the region was 38%; this year it was just 18%.

DataQuick: ‘March was the seventh consecutive month in which sales have fallen to the lowest level on record for that particular month.’ Across Southern California, sales were down 41.4% from year-ago levels. Median sales prices dropped 5.6% from February levels, to $380,000 -- the lowest level since April 2004, and a decline of 23.8% from peak pricing levels of $505,000.

Sales of homes that had been previously foreclosed on continue to dominate the regional market: More than one in three homes sold in the region, nearly 38%, had been foreclosed on at some point in the previous year. Foreclosure resales are highest in Riverside County, where they made up 56.4% of March sales.

DataQuick said the sharp drop in median sales prices reflects a combination of factors: depreciation, especially in areas hit hard by foreclosures, and a plunge in sales of more expensive homes because of tight credit for jumbo mortgages.

‘We continue to believe a lot of people who could be buying or selling right now are opting to sit tight until they sense we’ve hit bottom,’ said Marshal Prentice, DataQuick president. ‘Often what we’re left with, especially in inland areas, are sales driven by foreclosure or the threat of it.’

More highlights from the report:
-- In Los Angeles County, sales fell 49% from year-ago levels.
-- In Los Angeles County, the median sales price fell $20,000 from February levels, to $440,000 -- a decline of 18.5% from a year earlier.

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