Southland Residential Sales Rise 11% in May
It’s still a home buyer’s market in San Diego County and some outlying areas of Southern California, but prices and sales are firming up in Los Angeles and Orange counties, according to a report issued Friday by TRW Marketing Services.
Sales of new and used houses and condominiums in Southern California rose 11% in May over the previous month, although house prices remained generally unchanged. Real estate experts considered the sales jump a strong sign of a continued housing revival, but the gain was unevenly distributed.
TRW’s statistics provide the most up-to-date picture of Southern California’s turbulent housing market, which began recovering in February after the recession and a looming conflict in the Persian Gulf plunged home sales to a near standstill in December and January.
San Diego, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, for example, posted little or no gains in some housing categories. Condominium sales in San Bernardino plummeted 32.4% from a year ago to just 73 units, and average new-home prices in San Diego fell to $208,346 in May from $224,832 in April.
In contrast with San Diego, San Bernardino and Riverside counties--where prices increased less than one percentage point--housing prices firmed up in Los Angeles and Orange counties, rising more than 2 percentage points. TRW found that the market for condominiums was especially weak throughout Southern California, a finding that tracks the performance of condominium sales during the recessions of the early 1980s. Average condominium prices fell in four of the five counties in the TRW report.
Overall, the average sale price for single-family homes and condos in the five-county region rose slightly to $215,958 in May. That’s a 2.2% increase over the $211,227 posted in April and a slim 0.8% increase from May 1990’s average price of $214,348.
Condominium sales were down 32% in San Diego County, to 434 units sold in May; 23% in Riverside County, to 97 units sold; 10.5% in Los Angeles County, to 1,508 units, and 1.7% in Orange County, to 1,018 units.
Average condominium prices also dropped, except in San Bernardino County, where the average price rose slightly to $113,791 in May from $110,785 the previous month.
“These statistics suggest that. . . today’s low interest rates and favorable sales prices” make it a buyer’s market, said David Ross, TRW’s director of sales and marketing.
Southland Home Sales Rise
Figures represent new and used homes and condominiums that closed escrow.
Number of Sales by County
% Change May, ’90 May, ’91 from 5/’90 San Bernardino 2,291 2,846 24.2 Los Angeles 11,007 11,845 7.6 Orange 4,261 5,138 20.6 Riverside 3,412 2,762 -19.1 San Diego 3,345 2,841 -15.1 Total 24,316 25,432 4.6
Sales Prices by County
San Bernardino 140,600 146,187 4.0 Los Angeles 238,102 240,651 1.1 Orange 256,043 245,074 -4.3 Riverside 148,073 146,939 -0.8 San Diego 201,184 197,338 -1.9 Total 214,348 215,958 0.8
Source: TRW Marketing Services
