Riverside County Home Sales Decline 12%, Prices Advance

Sales of new homes in Riverside County in the three months ended Jan. 30 dropped 12% from the previous three months, according to a real estate research firm.

Meyers Group of Corona said 2,089 new houses, condominiums and townhomes were sold in the November through January period, down from 2,379 in the previous three months.

The median price for a new single-family house in Riverside at the end of January was $117,950, up 5% from the $112,990 recorded in the fall, and 8% higher than the summer median of $109,490.

The fourth-quarter median in Orange County was $217,900. In San Diego County it was $149,990.

The median price of townhouses and condominiums was down 7%, to $125,995 from $135,990. Attached housing in San Diego had a median price of $129,000, and Orange County had a median price of $133,000.

The preference continued to be for single-family detached housing, which accounted for 82% of sales. During the previous quarter, 91% were in that classification.

In Riverside County, sales of new single-family homes dropped 20% to 1,722 units in the three months ending Jan. 30 from the previous three months. Sales were slower in all regions except Murrieta, Lake Elsinore and Rancho California.

Conversely, attached-housing sales rose. All told, 367 condos and townhouses were sold in the three months ended Jan. 30, compared to 281 in the fall. A surge of sales in the desert areas, where 80% of the attached-unit sales occured, was responsible.