Bay Area home sales drop more than usual in January

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The San Francisco Bay Area housing market started the new year off with a sales plunge that was sharper than usual for a January, although home prices got a sizable bump from year-earlier levels, data released Thursday show. The number of homes sold in the nine-county Bay Area fell 38% in January from the month prior and 3.9% from January 2009 to 4,853, according to San Diego research firm MDA DataQuick. A drop is normal for the December-to-January period, though the typical decline is about 28%, the firm said.

“The January figures show the market lost some of the momentum it had built up in the second half of ’09, when home buyers rushed to ensure they could take advantage of a tax credit, ultra-low mortgage rates and lower prices,” DataQuick president John Walsh said. “Whether last month’s relatively weak performance portends any substantial, lasting changes in the market is unclear. One month doesn’t make a trend and, in the past, January hasn’t proven to be very predictive.”

The median price paid for all Bay Area homes was $350,000 in January, DataQuick said. That’s a 7.9% decline from $380,000 in December but up 16.7% from $300,000 in January 2009. Declines in the median from December to January are also typical, although last month’s decline was sharper than usual.

DataQuick attributed the decline in the median to a shift back toward foreclosure and less expensive inland homes.

-- Alejandro Lazo