Residential Sales in State Rise 12.1%; Interest Rate Lowest in Nine Years

The lowest interest rates in nine years and a pent-up demand for improved housing have contributed to a 12.1% increase in California residential sales during the first half of 1986, compared with the same period last year, according to Leah L. Steuer, Westside Los Angeles relocation director for Merrill Lynch Realty Inc., Beverly Hills.

“While that’s the situation statewide, we believe the figures may be much higher in Los Angeles,” she told a Japanese real estate group meeting in San Francisco. “This is a year of enorm1869968160sales,” she added.