June Home Sales 3.5% Over May but Trail 1991 Figure
Southland real estate activity plodded along through another slow month in June, according to an industry newsletter.
A total of 16,335 homes were sold in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties last month. That was 3.5% more than May’s 15,779, but down 15.9% from 19,429 in June, 1991, according to the July issue of the Southern California Real Estate Observer, published in Running Springs.
“The home-buying season hasn’t exactly started with a bang,” said John Karevoll, editor and publisher of the newsletter. “The poor employment figures are canceling out whatever positive effect the low interest rates are having.”
“The entry-level market, which was relatively strong for a year and a half, is now getting wobbly.”
Sales prices dipped somewhat last month. The median price of a single-family resale home was $186,000. That was down 1.6% from May’s $189,000 and down 4.6% from $195,000 in June, 1991.
Condo and new home prices also dropped, according to the Observer, which gets its home sales and price information from La Jolla-based Dataquick Information Systems. Dataquick compiles its information from public records at county assessors’ and recorders’ offices.
Despite the generally slow sales, there are several pockets of increased activity, according to the newsletter. Sales are up in Arcadia, Los Alamitos, Claremont, Malibu and Pacific Palisades. Sales of newly built homes are up in Riverside and San Diego counties.
The April riots haven’t affected home buying in the South-Central Los Angeles area so far. Prices remain stable and sales volume is off by about the same percentage as in the rest of the Los Angeles area, according to the newsletter.
Lending institutions started foreclosure proceedings on 4,439 homeowners in June, down slightly from May’s 4,559. Most of the affected homeowners bring their mortgage payments current and fewer than one of five ever actually gets foreclosed on, the Real Estate Observer said.
