Southland Sales Numbers Set an April Record

The number of homes sold in Southern California last month was the highest for any April on record, the result of strong demand and reasonable mortgage interest rates.

Prices reached a new peak, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 30,823 new and resale houses and condos were sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month.

That was up 2.2% from 30,146 for the month before, and up 27.8% from 24,120 for April last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Last month’s sales count was the second-highest for any month since the late 1980s, behind 32,386 sold last August.

It was the strongest April in DataQuick’s statistics, which go back to 1988.

The median price paid for a Southland home was $258,000 last month, a new record. That was up 0.4% from $257,000 for March, and up 15.7% from $223,000 for April last year.

The year-over-year increase was the strongest since June 1989, when prices reached $174,000, up 16% from $150,000 a year earlier.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Southland buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,313 in April. A year ago it was $1,159. The all-time peak was at $1,360, in April 1989, when interest rates were higher, DataQuick reported.