Home Sales Rise to Highest Level in 12 Months

Orange County homes sales in August reached their highest monthly total in the past 12 months, a regional real estate data firm reported Tuesday.

But last month’s sales remained relatively flat in contrast with August, 1989, dropping a scant 1% to 4,432 units, from 4,475 units a year earlier. At the same time, the average price of a home in the county--new and resale units combined--rose 1.7%, to $256,993 from $252,645 in August, 1989, according to TRW Real Estate Services Inc.

And average new-home prices in August dropped below the average for resale homes. That is just the third time that has happened since TRW began tracking the data in January, 1988, a company spokesman said.

The average new home sold for $255,465 in August, slightly less than the $257,431 price tag on the average resale home.

That disparity underscores the efforts developers have made to slash prices on existing inventory and to bring smaller, less expensive homes onto the market in a bid to revive new-home sales in the county.

TRW’s monthly report tallied home sales that closed in August--meaning that the actual sales contracts in most cases were signed from one to three months earlier. TRW’s report includes all new and resale transactions, for both attached and single-family homes.

Despite the downturn in sales from a year earlier, the report shows a spurt of new activity in August after a relatively slow summer. August sales were 10.1% higher than the 4,024 sales reported in July.

That increase was expected, the spokesman said, because TRW’s data reflects sales contracts signed at the beginning of the summer season--typically the best time of the year for residential sales.

Resale homes made up most of the August activity, with 3,743 units--84.5% of the total--changing hands, TRW said. Sales volume for resale homes was up 0.9% from a year earlier.

The average August resale price was 2.1% higher than the $252,127 reported in August, 1989.

New-home prices, which have been falling as developers strive to move existing inventory in a slow market, picked up a slight 0.4% from a year ago but continued the current downward trend, falling 1.2% to $255,465 from the July average of $258,640.