CALIFORNIA REALTY STILL IN HOT SPELL SOUTHLAND PACES SALES.Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer California's housing market displayed surprising resilience after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and will set records this year for sales and prices, an industry group reported Monday. ``Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, is really leading the way in terms of sales Terms of sale Conditions under which a firm proposes to sell its goods or services for cash or credit. because our prices are so much lower,'' said Leslie Appleton-Young, vice president and chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the for the Los Angeles-based California Association of Realtors. In what has been called the strongest housing market in the state's history, consumers are expected to buy 547,300 resale homes this year, an 8.5 percent gain from 2001. The old record was 537,830 sales in 1999, Appleton-Young said. The median price - the point at which half the units sell for more and half for less - is expected to rise 18 percent to $313,000. The median rather than the average is tracked because it is not affected as much by highest or lowest prices. In making their 2002 forecast late last year, the Realtors group expected strong prices but thought that sales would dip a little bit, especially after the attacks on New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of City's World Trade Center towers and on the Pentagon in the Washington area. But the housing market only blinked. Appleton-Young said credit goes to the usual suspects in low mortgage rates: strong demand and a weak stock market. ``The rate of home-price appreciation is well above the rate of inflation, making homeownership a safe haven 1. Designated area(s) to which noncombatants of the United States Government's responsibility and commercial vehicles and materiel may be evacuated during a domestic or other valid emergency. 2. in a period of overall economic uncertainty,'' she said. Appleton-Young expects double-digit price appreciation for most of the year in most regions of the state. Other market watchers agree with the trade group's assessment. John Karevoll, an analyst at DataQuick Information Systems, said it's a given that California is heading for a record year. ``We're about 15 percent ahead of the record for the period so far this year, so we'd have to have a spectacular drop-off in the last quarter to derail de·rail intr. & tr.v. de·railed, de·rail·ing, de·rails 1. To run or cause to run off the rails. 2. a record-breaking year,'' he said. And that's not likely. His preliminary analysis suggests that August was an exceptionally strong month, and this month should be robust, too. Housing prices are rebounding in Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern , and sales have been especially brisk in Southern California, the trade group said. Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said the state's economy will benefit from a strong housing market. ``Housing is a locomotive. It's a nice economic engine, and it definitely has a ripple effect ripple effect Epidemiology See Signal event. ,'' he said of the sector's ability to stimulate consumer spending. CAPTION(S): chart Chart: RECORD MARKET? SOURCE: California Association of Realtors |
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