Sales Drop 10% From ’92 : Home Sales Drop 10% From ‘92, 50% From ’88 High

The number of homes sold in the Southern California six-county region fell by about 10% in the first seven months of this year compared to the same period a year ago, according to TRW REDI Property Data.

More than 98,000 homes were sold in the Southland between January and July. This represents roughly half the level recorded at the height of the market in the same period in 1988.

TRW REDI reports that since 1989 the volume of transactions has consistently declined. But the rate of decline has slowed, giving rise to the prospect that Southern California is close to reaching the bottom in this latest real estate cycle. Average home prices in the Southland, unadjusted for the mix of properties sold, declined by 3.2% in the January-June period of 1993 compared to last year. At the same time, market share of lower priced homes (less than $175,000) has increased to 51.2% from 47.8%.

Homes Sales in January-July

Number of all homes sold by county during January-July from 1988 to 1993.

1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 Los Angeles 75,119 79,817 62,323 51,400 44,159 40,068 Orange 30,628 27,157 22,570 21,267 18,129 16,432 Riverside 18,050 25,830 22,448 14,418 12,538 11,185 San Bernardino 17,666 21,245 20,724 14,906 13,479 11,433 Ventura 9,400 8,788 5,365 5,167 4,900 4,824 San Diego 23,447 26,166 21,230 16,634 16,146 14,669 So. California 174,310 189,003 154,660 123,792 109,351 98,611 Percent Change -- 8.4% -18.2% -20.0% -11.7% -9.8%

Average prices of all homes sold by county during January-July from 1988 to 1993.

1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 Los Angeles 226,536 247,860 251,190 252,786 245,859 236,436 Orange 218,818 255,612 258,457 253,808 250,086 242,549 Riverside 127,208 139,913 155,889 154,631 156,611 147,679 San Bernardino 114,684 129,532 137,536 141,556 139,625 136,109 Ventura 210,362 256,401 255,996 244,316 238,874 234,004 San Diego 177,690 204,652 211,057 211,130 211,100 203,381 So. California 195,880 215,416 218,101 222,514 217,895 210,878 Percent Change -- 10.0% 1.2% 2.0% -2.1% -3.2%

All homes sold by price range in Southern California.

Price Range Jan.-July, 1992 Jan.-July, 1993 Percent Percent $100,000 8.2% 8.8% $100,001-175,000 39.6% 42.4% $175,001-250,000 27.9% 26.8% $250,001-325,000 11.8% 10.7% $325,001-400,000 5.4% 4.9% $400,001-600,000 4.7% 4.2% $600,001-1,000,000 1.9% 1.7% $1,000,000 0.5% 0.5%