O.C., State Home Sales Down Again

“For Sale” signs lingered outside Orange County homes a bit longer in September than in August. But homes sold faster last month than they did at the same time a year ago, the California Assn. of Realtors reported Friday.

Sales of existing homes in Orange County declined 5.3% in September, compared to a month earlier. But sales rose 7.8% when compared to September, 1990. The median price was $239,870, down 0.2% from last year’s $240,280 figure.

“That’s a big jump in sales (over last year),” said James Richeimer, president of the Huntington Beach/Fountain Valley Assn. of Realtors. “It will free up people to buy more expensive houses. A lot of people have been looking to trade up, but have been unable to sell their current homes.”

Statewide, California’s troubled economy pushed existing home sales downward in September for the fourth consecutive month.

At the same time, a national real estate trade group reported that nationwide sales of existing homes tumbled last month for a third straight drop to an eight-month low.

In California, 379,240 homes closed escrow during September on an annualized basis--down 7.2% from a revised annualized rate of 408,500 sales in August, the California trade group said.

September’s sales were 5.5% lower than the revised September, 1990 annualized pace, when 401,200 homes were sold.

C.A.R.’s vice president of research and economics, Leslie Appleton-Young, said, “Recent declines in interest rates have not boosted economic activity, and as a result, consumer confidence remains relatively low.”

However, Appleton-Young added, “even with September’s sales decline, home sales during the first nine months of this year remained well ahead of our statewide sales projection for all of 1991.”

Statewide, the median price of an existing, single-family detached home slipped 0.8% from a revised $200,520 in August to $198,920 in September.

Existing home sales in the Los Angeles region declined 12.1% from August on a non-seasonally adjusted basis but were up 6.0% from September, 1990. The region’s median home price rose 1.2% from $219,060 in August to $221,590 in September. September’s figure was 8.1% higher than a year ago, when the median-priced home sold for $205,000.

Nationally, all regions of the country posted losses, nudging sales of existing single-family homes down 4.3% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.11 million. It was the lowest rate since January and 1.6% lower than the September, 1990 rate, the National Assn. of Realtors said.

“It points to a heck of a weak recovery and says housing is not going to be the locomotive for growth,” said economist David Berson of the Federal National Mortgage Assn.

The average mortgage for a 30-year conventional fixed-rate mortgage was 9.01% in September compared to 9.24% in August. That is a full percentage point lower than a year ago, the association said.

The trade group said that low interest rates have brought in first-time buyers, but failed to lure homeowners into buying more expensive houses.

Both Berson and Harley E. Rouda, the Realtors president, attributed the weakness to a collapse in consumer confidence in the economy.

“Housing is available and there’s no credit crunch” for mortgage loans, Berson contended. “The problem is the unwillingness of people to borrow now.”

“When consumers decide that the economic recovery is here, housing will come back strong,” Rouda said.

“People who already own and are thinking of moving up tend to be less sensitive to rate movements and more sensitive to economic indicators than people buying their first homes,” NAR President Harley Rouda said.

The dismal sales come despite tumbling mortgage rates.

Home prices also fell, with the median price--the level at which half the homes cost more and half cost less--fell 2.3% from August to $99,800.

But that was 5.7% higher than in September, 1990.